PAIRING: S/B kinda/sorta - well, you'll see... *grin*
DISCLAIMER: Joss owns all. I own none of the characters and make not a cent from writing this.
DISTRIBUTION: Those who already have my permission, feel free. Anyone else, please let me know.
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: Anything up to and including the end of Crush is fair game.
REVIEW: I'd love it!
SUMMARY: This part has both Spike and Buffy in it. They have decided what they should do, and set about doing it.
NOTES: Thoughts that aren't stated as such will be shown like this [thoughts].
DEDICATION: To Cel, for being extremely cool and writing an awesome story in "Only Human". Speaking of which, when does the next part come out? ::hint hint::
THANKS: To all the beautiful people who gave me feedback on the first two parts. You are all just the best there is and everytime I see your names on a post in any group, I always smile. Thanks for brightening my days!
Spike stood in front of the Slayer's door for quite some time, while many different thoughts ran through his head. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there when he finally made his decision. He knew what he had to do, he just didn't quite know how to go about it.
So, he did what ANY self-respecting man or vampire would do when faced with such a task... He decided he was going to get pissed! He figured escaping the pain that was his existence for a short time wouldn't take him TOO much off schedule.
Once he made his mind up, he stepped off the porch and began walking down the path leading to the sidewalk. He turned around upon reaching the sidewalk, to gaze at the dwelling that housed his true love. He immediately felt the pain settle in again, and knew he couldn't handle much more of it right then, so he took off at a run to Willy's. He didn't have any money on him, and knew he could scare Willy into giving him something to drink.
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"So, now what do I do? Am I just going to stand here the rest of the night until mom and Dawn think I've gone off the deep end, or am I actually going to do something? Something simple.. like walking up the stairs and getting ready for bed? That would be the smart thing to do. But since when have I done the smart thing? Geez, decisions are so hard to make sometimes," Buffy thought as she headed toward the stairs.
"Buffy.. Buffy.. BUFFY! What is wrong with you! Why are you standing there like an idiot?" she faintly heard someone screaming at her through the thick fog she was in, but she honestly thought it was just herself again. "Buffy, listen to me!" [There, I heard it again and it WASN'T me.] It gradually dawned on her that someone else was speaking, and she turned from her position on the bottom stair to see Dawn looking at her as if she had grown another head.
"What is your problemo, Buffy? You've been ignoring me for the past five minutes while you've been living some sort of fantasy in your head! It must be extremely interesting in there since you haven't heard a word that Willow or I have said!"
"Huh?" [Great response Buffy. That's the way to let them know you're on your toes.] "Oh, sorry. Bit preoccupied right now."
"No duh. Kinda figured that out already. Not all of us are so slow-on-the-uptake," quipped her wonderful little sister. "Hey, Willow's been trying to reach you for the last five minutes too. She's in the living room."
With that Dawn ran up the stairs, and Buffy walked into the living room to see what Willow had to say. "Hey Wills," was all she could get out.
"Buffy, how did it go with Spike? Did you shut him down completely?"
"Uh.. yeah, Wil. I did."
"So, what happened? Tell me how it went."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she began to say until something hit her hard. She knew what she had to do, but there was no way she could explain it to Willow without being put into a straight-jacket. "Oh my god, Willow! I have to go! I have to take care of something! Oh god, oh god!"
"Buffy, calm down."
"I can't. I forgot to tell him something. I'll be right back."
"Hey, can't it wait until tomorrow? I thought you shut him down completely."
"Well.. almost, but I forgot the most important thing. It won't take me long, but don't feel you have to hang around all night. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine!" she nearly screeched as she raced out the door.
[Shit, I just lied to my best friend. But.. it's not like I could tell her that I'm going to test Spike's assertion that he loves me, and.. oh yeah, MINOR detail here.. I'm also going to tear his clothes off! Hmmm, Spike without clothes. Wow, it's exciting just to think about it.]
"Why am I so nervous? If he really loves me, this should make him happy. And if he doesn't? Well, it should still make him happy in the huge male ego thingy sense," Buffy's thoughts ran rampant as she walked to her destination. "Heck, he'd love to brag it all over the world that Buffy, the Vampire Slayer tore his clothes off. Oh yeah, Spike would get a kick out of humiliating me like that. Well, if he really loves me, he wouldn't want to do that, would he?"
"So, where should I go? I guess I'll try the crypt first. I can't believe I'm really considering this. I can't do this, can I? Shit yeah! If I can have sex with Riley, why can't I have sex with someone as hot as Spike?" she asked herself. "I know, I know... he's a vampire, but he's still hot, even if he's cold. Ooh, that's confusing. Well, I'll warm him up. Geez, did I really think that?" Buffy giggled to herself, surprising a man standing on the sidewalk.
She ran the rest of the way to his crypt and cautiously opened the door. "Spike, are you here?" Buffy called out as she stepped in. "I need to tell you something." There was no one in sight, so she looked around a bit before deciding he wasn't there.
"Great! I get all hot and heavy and he's not even here," Buffy groaned when she realized that Spike was elsewhere. "I wonder where he went? It's not like he has a bunch of good buddies here and Harmony's gone, so where could he be?"
"Where, oh where, could Spike be? Think logically, Buffy," she told herself as she stepped outside the crypt. "Now, Spike is upset, he doesn't have anyone to talk to, so what would he do?"
"The answer's obvious, Buffy. Just think! What does Spike do when he gets upset?" Buffy continued the conversation with herself as she walked toward the cemetery gate. "Oh, I know! He gets drunk! He must be somewhere working on getting drunk. Obvious choice... Willy's! So, I guess I go to Willy's if I want to see Spike."
With those words, Buffy headed to Willy's looking to find herself a vampire.
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"Hey Schlayer, diddya comtto make m'feel worse?" Spike drawled when he saw Buffy walk up to his table in back. "Dintcha 'ave enuff fun at my espense b'for?"
"Spike, you're drunk!" Buffy said disgustedly. [There go my plans for tonight. I was going to rip your clothes off, you DAMN, STUPID vampire! God, talk about NOT getting satisfaction....]
"Shure am, Buffy. Felt like kinda forgettin' my troubles, y'know..."
"Yeah, but how did you get SO drunk, SO quickly? I thought you vampires could hold your liquor!"
"Dunno, Schlayer. Tol' Willy wanted t' forget my troubles and he made me a speschal drink. Ish chock-oh-laut. Wanna try? Ish good!"
"No thanks, you know I don't drink. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere," Buffy told him as she walked away to find Willy.
"All right Willy, what did you give Spike? Did you drug it or put a spell on it?" she yelled out as she pinned Willy to the wall with Spike in the background slurring, "Oh, look at MY Schlayer. Ishn't she pretty when she'sh vi-oh-lent?"
"Hey Slayer, calm down! I gave him a normal drink, nothing more!" Willy responded to her violent questioning.
"No WAY, Willy. That was NO normal drink. What exactly is it and how many have you given him?"
"It's called Chocolate Narcotic. I got the recipe from a buddy of mine who owns a bar up in Chico. You know, Chico State..."
"Huh?" Buffy's only response.
"California State University at Chico, otherwise known as Chico State. It's one of the biggest party schools in the United States. Don't you ever watch the news?"
"Yeah, I watch the news, Willy. I know what it is and where it is. What's the big deal with this drink and why did it make Spike get drunk so quickly?"
"Well, the name is very descriptive. It's called Chocolate Narcotic because it goes down easily. So easily that you don't even realize what's in it. It's one of the strongest drinks I've ever heard of," Willy began explaining. "Spike asked for something strong, so I made one for him. He liked how it tasted, said your mom always gave him hot chocolate and it reminded him of her. He's on his fifth right now. I tried to get him to stop after the third, but you can't reason with Spike."
"Yeah, I know. I'll take him out of here before some demons gang up on him," she told him before heading back over to Spike.
"You are my ssssun-shline, my only ssssun-shline, you make meeeeee
ha-ppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Spike started singing forlornly to Buffy in a very high, out-of-tune voice as she got closer, "when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I luuuuvvvvv you, please don't take my ssssun-shline away......" She hurried to reach him before he could continue, but unfortunately, didn't reach him before he broke out in the first verse.
"The other night dear as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms, when I awoke dear I was mistaken, and I hung my head and cried."
As she walked up to him, he stopped singing the last line and said, "Hi ssssun-shline. I dream 'bout ya ev'ry night and when I wake up yur gone. Yur my ssssun-shline, Buffy. Yur my ssssun-shline...."
Buffy looked around at the other occupants of the bar for the first time and noticed quite a few vampires and demons were viewing the scene with distinct interest. This observation flustered her and she said the first thing that came to her mind, "Spike, I didn't realize you knew any American theme songs."
"Yeah, Schlayer. I know more 'an ya theenk. I like that song. Reminds me of you. Yur my ssssun-shline," Spike sadly responded to her words looking near tears.
Buffy knew she had to get him out of there before they were attacked, and she also knew that this display was going to cause him tremendous trouble in the future. "Hey Spike. Why don't we go home? You wanna come with me?" She spoke as to a child, fearful of upsetting him.
"Schlayer, you wanna go home wif me?" he slurred while his face brightened considerably.
"Yes, Spike. Why don't you come stay at my house tonight?"
"Yur gonta vite me in again?" Spike asked incredulously.
"Sure, you sang such a nice song to me. Why don't we go now? I'm sure my mom has some hot chocolate with marshmallows at home. C'mon, Spike, let's go, k?" she knew they needed to get out of there as soon as possible, and she also knew that Spike wouldn't be safe in his crypt after letting the entire bar know his feelings. She felt responsible, even though she didn't know why. So, she did the only thing she could, and took a drunk-as-a-skunk Spike home with her.
