Another part and a bit of a long-due conversation/confrontation. I realise that the title for the story doesn't really fit anymore but never mind.
Thanks for the reviews :-)
CHAPTER SIX:
"Buffy...?"
"What?"
"Can - can I go to the cinema later?"
She paused, the upturned glass she was drying wavering slightly. "What? When? Who with?"
"My friends are going after school."
Her sister's face reassembled itself into the age-old combination of puppy-dog eyes and pleadingly nervous grin that had won over many a parent and guardian. Her Mom would have fallen for it, no question. But things were different now. She had extra responsibilities where Dawn was concerned.
"Please, Buffy, I really need to go, everybody's going to be talking about it tomorrow and if I don't go I'll be all spare-party."
"I - I don't know, Dawn -"
"Oh. Come on, over-protective much?" Dawn rolled her eyes and walked her empty cereal bowl over to the sink. "Glory doesn't know who I am and the more I carry on as normal, the less she's going to suspect. Oh go on, what's the worst that could happen?"
"In Sunnydale? On the *Hellmouth*? Try death, disaster and apocalypse."
"Yeah... but if Glory was really *that* desperate you'd know it from the line of dead bodies leading up to your door."
Buffy cringed, sometimes Dawn came out with the grossest stuff and she would have to remind herself that she wasn't dealing with a demon here, but a teenager. Not that there was much difference, especially in this town.
"OK, OK, you win. Straight after school, whatever you do stay close to your friends and home before eight."
"Eight?!"
"Yes, eight... or eight-thirty at the latest." She brandished the tea towel at her sister in a mock-threatening manner. "You hear me?"
Her sister made a salute. "Eight-thirty it is... thanks Buffy." Dawn grabbed her coat and lunch off the sideboard and bounded out of the kitchen.
"Do you need some money?" Buffy called after her.
"No, it's OK. Spike gave me some when I caught him smoking in the bathroom. Bye, Buffy."
The door slammed to and left Buffy with only her revived confusion for company. (Spike. Giving my sister money to shut her up. Bribing my sister?) She didn't know whether she should be shocked or not but the weirdest thing about it was that she wasn't and she should be angry but she wasn't. She put the last dried cup back in the cupboard and slowly moved upstairs.
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Each step was weighted but not with something that felt like dread but it wasn't. The niggling in her stomach wasn't fear but excitement and she wanted to drag it out because the sight she would get when she opened her bedroom door was worth the wait. Worth the expense of eternities.
She crept in her darkened cocoon of a bedroom and with a small smile she crawled into bed next to him and snuggled against his back.
"Mfph." He rolled over, wrapped his arm around her and breathed her in. "Mpfhon"
"What?"
He opened his sleep-glazed eyes and smiled lazily at her. "I said 'Morning'."
"Well, in that case, Mimphig roff."
He chuckled and moved on top of her. His head pillowed on her breasts and his lower torso settled between her legs. "Melphing urgp." The now familiar rumbling of his chest sent the gurgling messages vibrating through her abdomen and along her groin. She sighed at the sensation knowing only that she had to keep this up.
"Rypfer argerumpf arfed."
He lifted his head. "Derfig?"
She nodded they both laughed, their bodies rocking together. She felt him shuffle his lower body and knew why but he did nothing about it.
"Arghog, Love."
"I think it's about time you started calling me by my name, don't you?"
He frowned at her, his eyes flitting between her eyes and her lips to see if she had actually said the words.
"Bu -" He paused and locked eyes with her. Steely-shivers shot down her spine to pulse at her core at the wide-open intensity of his gaze. She nodded slightly and he continued. "Buffy... Buffy." He grinned and kissed her softly once, twice, thrice, mouthing her name between kisses and it was all too much. They could both feel it for when she clutched at his shoulders to pull him up and into her, he was already on his way.
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"What ya doing?" She squinted to make him out in the failing light of sunset.
"Going out." He didn't look up until he'd done his belt buckle.
His words and tone of voice struck something inside of her (Panic?) and she sat up with an unnatural straightness and tension in her spine. "What? Where?"
"I don't know, for a walk, wherever my feet take me." He smiled thinly at her, the corners of his mouth barely lifting. "I'm getting cabin fever stuck in here."
"What - What are you? -"
"You only just thinking about that? Wondered how long it'd take."
"For what?" She could feel her heartbeat pounding through her and she knew he must be able to hear it. She felt exposed in a way that went far beyond nudity and clutched the bed sheets under her chin.
"For you to wake up and smell the monster."
She flinched at the bite in his voice and closed her eyes. (Haven't I been here before?) "Why are you being suddenly being so -"
"Honest?"
"Confrontational."
She stared at him, searching for cues, some clue from his body language but his stance was solid and unyielding, even his eyes were void of the tenderness she had grown used to. Too used to. She bit her lower lip and for a moment he was distracted by it. But not long enough.
"I think it's about time we faced this, don't you?"
"Faced what? I don't know why we can't just go on -"
"As we are? It's not real until we face the facts here."
"You think I don't know what you are? *Hello* to the times you've tried to kill me and my friends." Her gestures became more and more exaggerated as her desperation grew. "I held a stake to your heart yesterday, you think I don't realise you're a Vampire? You've done nothing but remind me of that *fact* since I met you again."
"Yes, I have to keep reminding you because you're in this little 'let's-pretend' cocoon of a world where you may know what I am but you force yourself not to think about it too much." He took a deep breath and a step forward, rethought it and reverted to his original spot.
She said nothing, she knew he would continue speaking, he had some sort of script and if she left him to it, he'd get to the line that punched her in the gut. She reached for her bathrobe and swung round to sit on the edge of the bed as she put it on. She couldn't look at him.
"Only if yesterday told us anything, it said that there's this niggling doubt in your mind that one day you may have to kill me. Only you probably don't want to do that 'cos you kinda like having me around like some sort of teddy bear sex-pet..." He couldn't suppress a smirk. "Whilst I'm *really* not complaining about that, you need to remember that not only does this teddy bear have fangs... he has very sharp, well used fangs. That's why you don't want me to go out. Afraid I may take a nibble from the all-you-can-eat buffet."
She glared at him, feeling something rise in her. Anger, frustration. Maybe he didn't understand after all. Sod his script.
"You're wrong."
"W-What?"
She forced herself to stand up and face him. "You're wrong. I'm not scared of what you are. I *know* you're a Vampire and I know what that means. But I also know what it means to be the Slayer and if you so much as dribble on one of my townies I will stake you in an instant."
The harshness of her voice unnerved her and patently surprised him but it had the desired effect of shutting him up and so she continued. "Don't think it makes a difference that you got in my bed, I've killed my lover before, I can do it again."
She took a deep breath and released the tension in her crossed arms, letting them fall to her sides. Her tone softened and she stepped closer, keeping his eye contact as she did.
"I know what you are," She paused, recalling their sofa conversation yesterday and couldn't help her lips curling slightly. "But I don't know who you are. *That's* what scares me, not that you're going out but that you're not gonna come back."
Her gaze dropped from his. "I'm scared that if you do come back, what does it mean, what do we mean? I don't the answers to any of the questions that surround us and they're not the Slayer-Vampire type question, they're the male-female, man-woman questions that never go away."
She thought she saw him smile before his head dipped shyly to the floor. She smiled at the gesture and glanced around the room to refocus herself.
"You walking out that door *would* be a test. But I don't know what constitutes a pass or a failure and I don't even know if I want you to succeed or not. I -"
She was cut off by his lips and she didn't fight it. Instead she relaxed against him, dissolved into him and for the briefest moment became him.
"I think I'll stay in for tonight." He panted against her cheek after they parted. "We've got some making-up to do."
"Was that an argument?"
He chuckled and walked her backwards to the bed. "No, I'm sure death-threats are the Slayer version of sweet-nothings."
"You'd be surprised."
"Yeah, you keep on surprising me."
"Ditto."
Thanks for the reviews :-)
CHAPTER SIX:
"Buffy...?"
"What?"
"Can - can I go to the cinema later?"
She paused, the upturned glass she was drying wavering slightly. "What? When? Who with?"
"My friends are going after school."
Her sister's face reassembled itself into the age-old combination of puppy-dog eyes and pleadingly nervous grin that had won over many a parent and guardian. Her Mom would have fallen for it, no question. But things were different now. She had extra responsibilities where Dawn was concerned.
"Please, Buffy, I really need to go, everybody's going to be talking about it tomorrow and if I don't go I'll be all spare-party."
"I - I don't know, Dawn -"
"Oh. Come on, over-protective much?" Dawn rolled her eyes and walked her empty cereal bowl over to the sink. "Glory doesn't know who I am and the more I carry on as normal, the less she's going to suspect. Oh go on, what's the worst that could happen?"
"In Sunnydale? On the *Hellmouth*? Try death, disaster and apocalypse."
"Yeah... but if Glory was really *that* desperate you'd know it from the line of dead bodies leading up to your door."
Buffy cringed, sometimes Dawn came out with the grossest stuff and she would have to remind herself that she wasn't dealing with a demon here, but a teenager. Not that there was much difference, especially in this town.
"OK, OK, you win. Straight after school, whatever you do stay close to your friends and home before eight."
"Eight?!"
"Yes, eight... or eight-thirty at the latest." She brandished the tea towel at her sister in a mock-threatening manner. "You hear me?"
Her sister made a salute. "Eight-thirty it is... thanks Buffy." Dawn grabbed her coat and lunch off the sideboard and bounded out of the kitchen.
"Do you need some money?" Buffy called after her.
"No, it's OK. Spike gave me some when I caught him smoking in the bathroom. Bye, Buffy."
The door slammed to and left Buffy with only her revived confusion for company. (Spike. Giving my sister money to shut her up. Bribing my sister?) She didn't know whether she should be shocked or not but the weirdest thing about it was that she wasn't and she should be angry but she wasn't. She put the last dried cup back in the cupboard and slowly moved upstairs.
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Each step was weighted but not with something that felt like dread but it wasn't. The niggling in her stomach wasn't fear but excitement and she wanted to drag it out because the sight she would get when she opened her bedroom door was worth the wait. Worth the expense of eternities.
She crept in her darkened cocoon of a bedroom and with a small smile she crawled into bed next to him and snuggled against his back.
"Mfph." He rolled over, wrapped his arm around her and breathed her in. "Mpfhon"
"What?"
He opened his sleep-glazed eyes and smiled lazily at her. "I said 'Morning'."
"Well, in that case, Mimphig roff."
He chuckled and moved on top of her. His head pillowed on her breasts and his lower torso settled between her legs. "Melphing urgp." The now familiar rumbling of his chest sent the gurgling messages vibrating through her abdomen and along her groin. She sighed at the sensation knowing only that she had to keep this up.
"Rypfer argerumpf arfed."
He lifted his head. "Derfig?"
She nodded they both laughed, their bodies rocking together. She felt him shuffle his lower body and knew why but he did nothing about it.
"Arghog, Love."
"I think it's about time you started calling me by my name, don't you?"
He frowned at her, his eyes flitting between her eyes and her lips to see if she had actually said the words.
"Bu -" He paused and locked eyes with her. Steely-shivers shot down her spine to pulse at her core at the wide-open intensity of his gaze. She nodded slightly and he continued. "Buffy... Buffy." He grinned and kissed her softly once, twice, thrice, mouthing her name between kisses and it was all too much. They could both feel it for when she clutched at his shoulders to pull him up and into her, he was already on his way.
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"What ya doing?" She squinted to make him out in the failing light of sunset.
"Going out." He didn't look up until he'd done his belt buckle.
His words and tone of voice struck something inside of her (Panic?) and she sat up with an unnatural straightness and tension in her spine. "What? Where?"
"I don't know, for a walk, wherever my feet take me." He smiled thinly at her, the corners of his mouth barely lifting. "I'm getting cabin fever stuck in here."
"What - What are you? -"
"You only just thinking about that? Wondered how long it'd take."
"For what?" She could feel her heartbeat pounding through her and she knew he must be able to hear it. She felt exposed in a way that went far beyond nudity and clutched the bed sheets under her chin.
"For you to wake up and smell the monster."
She flinched at the bite in his voice and closed her eyes. (Haven't I been here before?) "Why are you being suddenly being so -"
"Honest?"
"Confrontational."
She stared at him, searching for cues, some clue from his body language but his stance was solid and unyielding, even his eyes were void of the tenderness she had grown used to. Too used to. She bit her lower lip and for a moment he was distracted by it. But not long enough.
"I think it's about time we faced this, don't you?"
"Faced what? I don't know why we can't just go on -"
"As we are? It's not real until we face the facts here."
"You think I don't know what you are? *Hello* to the times you've tried to kill me and my friends." Her gestures became more and more exaggerated as her desperation grew. "I held a stake to your heart yesterday, you think I don't realise you're a Vampire? You've done nothing but remind me of that *fact* since I met you again."
"Yes, I have to keep reminding you because you're in this little 'let's-pretend' cocoon of a world where you may know what I am but you force yourself not to think about it too much." He took a deep breath and a step forward, rethought it and reverted to his original spot.
She said nothing, she knew he would continue speaking, he had some sort of script and if she left him to it, he'd get to the line that punched her in the gut. She reached for her bathrobe and swung round to sit on the edge of the bed as she put it on. She couldn't look at him.
"Only if yesterday told us anything, it said that there's this niggling doubt in your mind that one day you may have to kill me. Only you probably don't want to do that 'cos you kinda like having me around like some sort of teddy bear sex-pet..." He couldn't suppress a smirk. "Whilst I'm *really* not complaining about that, you need to remember that not only does this teddy bear have fangs... he has very sharp, well used fangs. That's why you don't want me to go out. Afraid I may take a nibble from the all-you-can-eat buffet."
She glared at him, feeling something rise in her. Anger, frustration. Maybe he didn't understand after all. Sod his script.
"You're wrong."
"W-What?"
She forced herself to stand up and face him. "You're wrong. I'm not scared of what you are. I *know* you're a Vampire and I know what that means. But I also know what it means to be the Slayer and if you so much as dribble on one of my townies I will stake you in an instant."
The harshness of her voice unnerved her and patently surprised him but it had the desired effect of shutting him up and so she continued. "Don't think it makes a difference that you got in my bed, I've killed my lover before, I can do it again."
She took a deep breath and released the tension in her crossed arms, letting them fall to her sides. Her tone softened and she stepped closer, keeping his eye contact as she did.
"I know what you are," She paused, recalling their sofa conversation yesterday and couldn't help her lips curling slightly. "But I don't know who you are. *That's* what scares me, not that you're going out but that you're not gonna come back."
Her gaze dropped from his. "I'm scared that if you do come back, what does it mean, what do we mean? I don't the answers to any of the questions that surround us and they're not the Slayer-Vampire type question, they're the male-female, man-woman questions that never go away."
She thought she saw him smile before his head dipped shyly to the floor. She smiled at the gesture and glanced around the room to refocus herself.
"You walking out that door *would* be a test. But I don't know what constitutes a pass or a failure and I don't even know if I want you to succeed or not. I -"
She was cut off by his lips and she didn't fight it. Instead she relaxed against him, dissolved into him and for the briefest moment became him.
"I think I'll stay in for tonight." He panted against her cheek after they parted. "We've got some making-up to do."
"Was that an argument?"
He chuckled and walked her backwards to the bed. "No, I'm sure death-threats are the Slayer version of sweet-nothings."
"You'd be surprised."
"Yeah, you keep on surprising me."
"Ditto."