Spike opened his eyes and saw a little girl standing over him. He jumped, making her jump too. Then she grinned.
"Amelia?" he said groggily. "What's wrong?"
"It's night and I'm bored. And hungry. And I need to go to the bathroom. And I-,"
"Ok…ok…hold on." He stood up and stretched his arms. He yawned a little as he walked over to open the crypt door. It was, indeed, night. Maybe around seven or so. "Ok…" he said leaning down to her eye level. "here's the deal. We'll go to McDonald's or something. Sound good?"
"Do you guys have a Doublemeat Palace?"
"Uh…yeah, yeah we do. Is that where you wanna go?"
"Yeah!" she squealed. She started dancing while Spike sat down to put on his boots. "Hey Spike?" she asked suddenly. He looked up.
"Yeah?"
"Can-can I be the princess? I want to be the Princess of…of…" She wrinkled her forehead. "What is this?"
"A crypt." He said with amusement dancing in his eyes.
"I want to be the Princess of the crypt."
"Ok." He laughed. He glanced at her bare feet. "But ya know what princesses need? Shoes. We'll have to get you some, I guess." He pulled his jacket on and picked Amelia up.
She started squirming. "I can walk, you know."
"Not without shoes, you can't." he said as he balanced her on his hip. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
They walked through the cemetery and headed towards Main Street.
"Why do you live with dead people?" she asked after a while. "Don't they scare you?"
"Because I have to. And no, they don't scare me. They're very quiet."
"But what about your friends?"
"I don't have any friends." He said.
"I can be your friend, Spike." She said. They walked in silence the rest of the way.
When they finally did reach the restaurant, he glanced inside. He was relieved to see no sign of Buffy. He pushed open the doors and they were instantly bathed in florescent lighting. He set Amelia down and pointed to the bathrooms.
"Do you see it? The one with the stick guy in a dress?" She nodded and walked over there. He watched her to make sure she went in and no one snatched her up before he strolled up to the counter.
"Can I help you, sir?" the young girl behind the counter asked with fake enthusiasm.
"Hey, uh…" He studied her face a bit closer. "Sophie, right?"
"Uh huh…oh, hi! You're Buffy's boyfriend, right? Your eye healed up I can see."
"Yup." They nodded and silence followed. "Well, I guess I'll have one kid's meal."
"'k. Is that all for you tonight?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Ok, that'll be two dollars." He took out his wallet and handed her some cash. "It'll be out in a sec." She said and flashed a smile. He stood to the side of the counter and looked around. When he was there the few other times, the times when he was visiting Buffy, he never really took in the…well, cheesiness of the place. I mean, the hats. Seriously. Then his thoughts began to roam towards the things they had done on her breaks…
"Uh…number 7, your order is ready!" The voice dragged him out of his thoughts. He picked up the meal, nodded at the kid behind the counter, and looked around again.
"Spike? Is that for me?" Spike jumped about a mile when he realized Amelia had been standing behind him almost the whole time. He handed her the bag and soda and picked her up again.
Buffy came in from a back room and she caught a glimpse of a long black coat and a head of bright yellow hair. She stopped dead in her tracks, but shook her head. That couldn't of been him, she thought, he can't have children.
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"Ok, here are the shoes. Pick some out." Spike let go of her hand and she ran and disappeared down and aisle. He decided he'd be safe with sitting on a bench and waiting for her. He was just about to get up and look around when she came back with not one, not two, but three pairs of shoes. One was one of those lame Barbie pairs covered in pink and glitter. Another were light blue and had Periwinkle on them (you'd be safer not knowing how he knew this), and the last pair were purple with Snow White on them.
"Ok…wanna try them on?"
"I already did."
"All right…so pick one."
"Just one?" She did her best pouty face.
"Ok…how about we get you one of these…and…these." He said, picking some black ones with skulls on them off the shelf. Imagine that, finding shoes like that in Sunnydale…
"Ok…then can I get a toy?"
He sighed. "I guess. But just one. Got it?" She nodded and squealed. She ran off to the toy aisle probably faster than he could. He put the shoes back in the boxes and realized she hadn't picked out some. He figured he'd go with the Snow White ones. He always did have a weakness for Disney princesses.
He finally caught up with her and she had decided on a tiara. They went up front to pay.
"I'm bored." She sighed after a while. Does this kid ever stop? He wondered.
"Here's a quarter." He flicked one at her and she ran off. He paid for the items and found her playing one of those claw-to-get-stuffed-bear games. Of course, as always, she failed and stomped towards him.
"Now…which shoes shall we wear?" he asked, taking the boxes out of their bags.
"Um…the black ones." He strapped them on her feet and took her hand. They walked about halfway home before Amelia's feet started to drag.
"Getting tired, luv?"
"No." she yawned. He smiled and picked her up. What with the bags and all, I might add, it was quite difficult. He managed though, and when they crossed the threshold of his place of residence, she was out cold. He laid her down on his bed, tucked her in, and kissed her forehead.
"See you in the morning, Princess." He whispered.