"Close Your Eyes"

By; Foolinq Love

The room was dark. The air was moist and hung low against the two bodies hidden under the sweat filled sheets. Her emerald orbs gazed up into his as he breathed down against her naked body. His heart beat rapidly. She looked up at him, lovingly, pleased with their situation. As he collapsed next to her, his hand fell to her stomach. He rubbed it softly. "And soon, we're going to have a little one running around here." He kissed her on the forehead before taking her hand within his. "My beautiful wife." As he rubbed her hand, she laid her head down against her chest. She closed her eyes.

"Mmm. . .I love you Angel."

Buffy sat up and glanced around the room. The living room. Looking at the chair to her side, she noticed how Spike watched her intently. He slowly shook his head and rubbed his eyes, noticing she was awake. He smirked at her and leaned back. " 'Ello Slayer. Have fun tonight?" The Slayer ran a hand through her blonde tresses, swinging her legs down. Giving him a shrug, she continued to look around.

"Ah, you know how it is. Ten little teenage girls shrieking in a graveyard. They're all afraid. Can't blame 'em though. They just found out they could be fighting demons and vampires until the day they die. And not to mention the impending war with the First and the threat of them getting killed by long, pointy knives."

Spike nodded in agreement. They were all scared of what was to come. What would happen next. He was scared too. "Are you afraid Love?" His accent added to the husky tone of his whisper. He leaned forward, resting his bent elbows on his knees; his hands fell together. His crystal orbs gazing over the Slayer's body. Her golden locks hung easily against the shoulders of her white turtleneck. A pair of black leather pants wrapped around her bottom half, ending in a pair of black boots. He rubbed his thumbs together, looking her over again and again, remembering why he loved her so much. Why he did all the crazy things he did for her.

The Slayer looked down, almost ashamed of what she was about to say. "Yeah I am, but I can't be. I'm the leader." She looked up at him, her emerald orbs casting an innocent stare. "I'm supposed to be strong and fearless. Lead everyone into victory. But I'm afraid I'm going to die Spike. The fearless leader isn't supposed to be scared of dying. I'm supposed to be the rock. And I'm not doing a good job of it." A silent tear fell down her cheek. She was truly afraid of what was to become of her.

The vampire smirked at her. "Love, you can be afraid. There's no rule that says you're not allowed to fear. You can feel things. Being the Slayer doesn't disable you to feel. You feel love for Dawn and all your friends. You feel happy when you're around them. That means you can feel bad feelings too. You always said there was no Slayer handbook, so why think you can't feel? No where does it say you can't feel things." He tried. Oh, he always tried to make things bright and clear for her, give her advice, and be there for her. Not like she noticed his attempts to be her one and only man. But this, right now, was good. The two of them, together and he was giving her advice on being a Slayer.

He glanced upstairs; they were all asleep. Buffy swallowed hard and fiercely wiped away the tear. "But if I'm afraid, what does that show them? I can't show it Spike. I have to be there for everyone. For Dawn, Willow. . . and Xander." She paused, looking over him. "For myself and. . .you." She ran her hands through her hair and softly began to chuckle. "But clearly, I'm not doing a good job of that. You're sitting here telling me it's all going to be fine and dandy. You're the one being the rock; not me." More tears began to fall down from her eyes. Her head collapsed in her hands as the tears raged on.

The vampire rose from his seat and moved over to her. Sitting down, her placed a hand on her bent back, rubbing it gently. He looked down at her. He let out a soothing hiss. "It's okay Pet. We all know you're much better at this speech thing than me." She looked up at him, gently smiling. She leaned her head on his shoulder. The platinum blonde vampire wrapped an arm around the Slayer as he continued. "You give everyone those speeches. You tell them how it's going to be. When you give your speeches, you speak the truth and you look as if you're unafraid of what's next. Buffy, you're there for us all. If it weren't for you, I'd still be that silly wimp I became after I got my soul back. And Red wouldn't be able to control her black magic. Love, you're there for us enough. It's just sometimes, you need someone to be there for you."

Buffy nodded and looked up into Spike's eyes. Sometimes, he could be good and caring. She noticed how he looked down at her. His eyes; they were full of love. She'd see how he'd stare at her in the hall or the way he'd try and behave around her. She noticed it. She noticed all of it actually, but she never said anything. It'd be too odd to confront it again with all this going on. But she couldn't deny there wasn't something going on between them. There was tension and tons of it. There was something about him she desired to have for her own. To love and hold, for her only. She wondered if she was as easy to read as he was. Or if anyone else could see what went on in his eyes as he looked at her. She hoped not.

After that dream about Angel, she was confused. Why shouldn't she be confused? She had a dream a vampire was breathing, his heart was beating, and he was boinking her. Three things Angel clearly couldn't do. She loved Angel, she always would. And those feelings for Spike swimming around in her blood weren't exactly clearing the picture up. But like Spike said, "Love isn't brains." You can't choose who you fall in love with. The Slayer had figured that out when she fell in love with Angel. Vampire and Slayer relationships were now her thing. What a grand thing to have.

The Slayer leaned towards Spike, her tiers open. Spike moved closer to her, knowing what was about to happen. He could feel it. He felt her warm breath against him; it sent a shiver through his skin. He was about to move closer when he heard that cough. He closed his eyes as Buffy scooted back away from him, to the opposite side of the couch. "Yeah Spike, thanks for that. I needed it." The Slayer looked up and so did the vampire after he opened his eyes. It was Xander. 'Oh joy, the Whelp,' thought Spike. Xander moved down the stairs and sat down on the chair Spike once remained at.

"Couldn't sleep. You know how it is Buffy," Xander said bitterly. He glared at Spike, his eyes piercing through him like a stake. Buffy nodded. Her eyes were wandering all over the room. Surely Xander had seen the two about to kiss. An awkward silence flooded the air in which they sat. Spike leaned back on the couch and took an un-needed breath of air. A yawn expelled from Buffy's tiers as Xander coughed. "I guess I'm going to go read one of Andrew's comics. He has connections. So that means he has an awesome collection." He stood up and slowly walked upstairs, back into the world of Potentials.

Spike looked at Buffy, then at the floor. He felt like a preteen for all this nonsense. If he could have, he would probably be blushing. The Slayer did that type of thing to him all the time. He doubted she knew. He looked back up at her and noticed how she immediately looked down at the floor. It was odd now. That feeling between them had grown completely weird. The vampire sighed. "Pet, you don't have to act like such a soddin' preteen about it. We were about to kiss and then Whelp caught us. It's not that bad." That sure made her look up at him. She rolled her eyes at him and stood up. She walked over to the staircase, putting her hand on the rail.

She looked over at Spike, almost smirking. "I'm going to bed. You should too Mr. It's Not a Big Deal." She began to walk up the stairs, but paused again. She leaned over the railing, looking down at him. This time, she was smirking. "You could join me if you think that wouldn't be too preteen for you." The vampire turned off the light and ran up to her as she finished walking up the stairs. He followed her like a puppy to her room. She opened the door and walked into the empty room. Spike followed and closed the door silently behind him.

The Slayer turned on the light before sitting down on the bed. She pulled off her boots and looked at him. "Did you get blood today?" Grabbing a shirt on the bed, she stood up and walked over to her closet. She turned to face it. She pulled off her turtleneck and then her bra, leaving them on the floor. She slipped on the shirt she carried over there. She slipped off the pants and put on a pair of cotton pajama bottoms that lay over there. She walked back to the bed and sat down.

"No. Giles had me doing research most of the night and then Andrew began to explain his bleeding Dungeon game." He peeled off his duster and flung it over a chair. He then sat down next to her and pulled off his boots.

Buffy reached over and turned off the light. She scooted to the other side and lay down. Spike lay down next to her. He put his hands on his chest and looked over at her. Buffy looked at him. It was odd for him to lay next to her. Though sometimes it had to be done in the full house. He needed a nice place to rest at times too. And she had been awfully rough on him during demonstration time earlier in the day. "Good night Spike." She closed her eyes. And just after she fell asleep, Spike pulled a blanket over her shivering body. And then placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Night Slayer."