CHAPTER TEN: VIOLET

(Author's Note: I've re-uploaded chapters seven through nine cos I changed Stephen's age.  He was eighteen and a half [approx] when he and Buffy first met, so he's now twenty.  Go with it, please!)

It was over a year and a half after Buffy had moved in with Daniel and Stephen that anything remotely interesting happened between Buffy and the younger Holtz.  They had been sparring outside as the sun had been setting, their weapons on the ground within arms reach if they needed them`for a real fight.

Buffy had been training Stephen on the finer points of fighting, brushing up on the boys technique.  She was surprised by his speed and flexibility.  She had heard the story of Stephen's conception, two vampires producing a human child.

She had been shocked but hadn't let it show.  She had to admit that her first thoughts had been of Angel, but she had dismissed that thought immediately.  Holtz had explained to her that his family had been massacred by the demon and, judging from Holtz's age, Angel would have had his soul by the time he would have produced children.

She had to wonder, however, about who the vampire was that had been able to produce a child in the human way.  She wouldn't ask though, sensing it was a sore point for Stephen, and seeing as he never pushed her for details about her life, she wasn't about to push for details about him.

Holtz was nowhere in sight, not particularly liking the way that Buffy and Stephen sparred together.  There was no real malice, though there was always violence.  They were quick and accurate and after nearly a year, Stephen was almost able to take the Slayer down.  Almost.

When they had first begun, his main disadvantage was being distracted by Buffy's chattering.  She would talk casually or fling insults or suggestions to him mid-battle, not even taking more breath as she did so.  It took nearly six months before he was able to properly retort back to her, the two of them slinging barbs and jokes back and forth.

By about the tenth month, Buffy had taken the teasing to another level and had started dropping sexual innuendos into their fighting to make him lose concentration.  It had taken another months before he was used to it and slinging back the insults and innuendos as good as he got.  Of course, he still had a fair way to go, but he had discovered nearly everything about sex just from their fighting.

The way they moved and fought was an intricate dance, one that Buffy had been missing for centuries.  The fights between the demons had been business, pure and simple.  They had been protecting their property and had engaged in a battle to do just that.  They had never fought for fun, and she had been craving a good all out fight that lasted for hours.

When Stephen was properly trained in sparring and in the puns, Buffy was thrilled.  It reminded her sorely of home though, the endless hours of sparring she had done with Giles, the shadow boxing that Spike had managed to talk her into several times and of course the all-out sparring she and Angel had done. 

"Come on Buffy, sometime this year.  I'm growin' old here," Stephen taunted, the back of his fist striking her left cheek.  He took a second to flip his long hair out of his face while Buffy quickly regained her balance.

She just grinned at him and gave him a speculative look up and down.  "Well, part of you is certainly growing."

He glared at her, his already flushed face becoming a little brighter.  That was his one weakness.  He hated when she pointed out that he usually always got hard during their sparring sessions.  It was hard not to when he watched her fight.  In tight leather pants and a tight tee-shirt he was surprised that he even had a modicum of control over himself.

He was twenty now, and although nothing had occurred between them as yet, he was finding himself more and more in love with her each day.  He had begun dreaming about her more often, though there wasn't a day that had gone by when he hadn't thought about her before drifting off to sleep.  The dreams had been becoming more vivid of late and he had woken up hard in the mornings.  He had switched from bathing in the evenings to washing himself in the mornings.  Neither Buffy nor Holtz had mentioned it, though both had noticed.

Holtz was surprised by the time the two had taken to become closer.  His son either had a lot of self-control or was so clueless about how to begin something with someone as confident and cocky as Buffy Summers and thus hadn't even tried. 

Buffy got in a quick kick to Stephen's chest, winding him a little.  He stumbled backwards, falling onto his backside but quickly back-flipping and bouncing on his feet.  He faked left and ducked under Buffy's punch, grabbing her by the waist and throwing her to the ground in a move that surprised them both.  Buffy clutched at Stephen's wrist, and he came tumbling down on top of her, their bodies crashing together in a jumble of limbs and skin.

Stephen laughed a little and looked down at his opponent, both of them breathing hard and sweating terribly.  His heart caught in his throat, something he wasn't unfamiliar with after a year and a half of living with the girl that he dreamt of nightly.

Buffy had been hesitant about her feelings towards Stephen.  He was impossible not to like, not only because there were no other options, but because there was something so completely endearing in his innocence regarding all things female.  She had come to care about him over the last year and a half and at some point, though she couldn't have told you when, she had felt herself seeing him in a new light.

He had begun to carry himself more confidently, had begun showing an assertiveness that she hadn't known existed in him.  His attitude slowly became a mixture of Buffy's and Holtz's, a lethal combination for anything that tried to destroy their home. 

She remembered the first time the butterflies had started within her stomach.  Holtz had been fixing one of the chairs at the time and Buffy had been happily watching, offering her help only to be gently turned down.  Holtz was beginning to slow down in his actions and had found himself as the recipient of many offers of help from his son and from Buffy as well.  He hated accepting help unless absolutely necessary, and by silent agreement, Buffy and Stephen usually left him alone unless they felt it imperative to help the aging man.

Stephen had gone to fetch more water and when he had returned, he had been shirtless and saturated, water droplets sliding down his well-toned chest.  She had stared at him for a moment before looking away, flushed.  Stephen had grinned, finally glad to be able to get her at her own game.  After that, he had often sparred with her in only his pants made from the raw-hide from the demons he killed. 

He hadn't been wearing a shirt when he had managed to wrestle Buffy to the ground, and her hands were involuntarily drawn to his sweat covered chest.  She trailed her finger across his muscles, savouring the feel.  It had been centuries since she had made love with someone and the feeling of Stephen's hands on her body was driving her slowly insane.

He lifted his hand gently and tucked a strand of her unruly hair behind her ear, their faces only an inch apart.  He looked hesitantly into her eyes but found the same desire looking back at him.  Tentatively he leant down and brushed his lips with hers, still not entirely certain about what he was doing.

Buffy noticed his uncertainty and slowly increased the pressure between them, finally coaxing Stephen's mouth apart.  Stephen felt his heart beginning to pound in his chest even more than usual.  He had thought that the feelings he had felt when he wasn't touching her were as far as his body could handle, but with one hand in her hair and the other resting on her hips as their tongues danced and duelled, he knew he had been wrong.