I want some cheese. Yummy...okay, I'm better. Now I can write.

*****

Don't Leave Me Now

Part 3

*****

Head hurts...cold...face wet...something licking...Faye's thought's stumbled incoherently over her barely conscious observations. She groaned loudly, vaguely realizing that it must be the dog licking her face and she flailed out at the unseen annoyance without opening her eyes. If she opened them, she had the feeling her head would hurt much more.

"Mmm, where's the blanket?" Faye grumbled, feeling out for something to cover her body with lazy arm flaps. Ein yelped as she inadvertantly hit him, and then Faye yelped as she hit something that felt warm and smooth and very much like human flesh. "Who the hell?" Faye's eyes flew open, and she scrambled to sit up and get as far from the naked man as she could. She immediately regretted the speed of her movement as her headache screamed in protest. "Dammit...fucking hangover." Faye fell over miserably, not really caring that she was still lying right next to Spike.

"Come see, Jet!" Faye heard Ed coming, but the door opened seconds later, so there wasn't much that she could do to avoid discovery. "They lost all their clothes!" And there was the rest of the Bebop crew, one looking down at them with excited curiosity, and the other looking down with mild amusement.

"I think they lost their way to their bedrooms, Ed." Jet assured the young girl. He turned to Faye, who was trying to cover herself up with Spike's discarded shirt. "Well, good to see you've gotten it out of your systems. I'll bring you some coffee if you can get dressed."

"Th--thanks..." Faye was embarrassed and confused, and she didn't really know what to say. She sat up slowly, backing away from Jet a bit, only to accidently sit on Spike's arm.

"Agh, dammit..." he grumbled, flailing at her with his free arm, slapping her right on her bare bottom.

"Spike!" she yelped in surprise as Jet and Ed left, obviously no longer interested. Actually, Ed sounded interested, but Jet told her that it would be dangerous to stay.

"Huh, what? Where am..." Spike's eyes opened, taking in the naked woman quickly pulling his shirt on over her head. "Faye? Why are you...oh yeah." Spike's eyes landed on the empty liquor bottle and the melted half eaten remains of the ice cream they had shared. "God dammit, what the hell was I thinking?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Faye snapped back at him. "I was drunk and you took advantage of me!" she growled at him, reaching over to grab the first hard object she found, one of Spike's shoes, and pelt it at the still groggy man.

"Why the hell would I want to do that?" Spike grumbled, sitting up and wincing at the pain in his head. "You obviously don't remember very much. Gimme my clothes back."

"What are you talking about? You are the one who started it! You kissed me!" Faye threw his other shoe at him, smirking when it hit him in the head.

"Bitch! What's your problem! You were begging me to do it again!" Spike growled at her, scrambling to his feet and picking up his pants, pulling them on quickly. "Ooh, Spike, kiss me!" he imitated, making his voice high pitched.

"I hate you!" Faye cried out, punching him in the face before turning to run out of the room, going back to her own quarters.

"Fucking woman." Spike grumbled, searching around for his socks just as Jet returned with two mugs of coffee, his eyes following Faye's retreating figure before turning to look at the irate man pulling his shoes on. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, just brought you some coffee." Jet handed him one of the mugs, glancing once more toward where Faye had headed, chuckling softly.

"Saw us, huh?" Spike asked. "I was drunk."

"Sure." Jet nodded, "So am I gonna get any peace now that you two have gotten that out of your systems?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Spike hissed, blowing on his coffee before taking a slow drink from it.

"Whatever. I'm taking this to Faye, then, if she'll take it." Jet turned to leave.

"Stupid woman." Spike grumbled again before returning his attention to his coffee.

----------

"Hurry up in there!" Spike pounded on the bathroom door angrily. "What are you doing in there, anyway?"

"Taking a fucking shower, you prick!" Faye yelled back at him, stepping out of the tub so quickly that she slipped on the slick floor, falling hard on her side.

"What the hell was that?" Spike asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Faye answered, standing up and rubbing her sore hip. She could tell already that it would bruise. She hated bruises.

"You fell, didn't you? You stupid klutz!" Spike laughed as she searched the bathroom for a dry towel, checking all the spots she usually hid them in.

"Why don't you just go away?" Faye asked him. "I'm not going to finish any faster with your helpful comments."

"If I don't stand here, you'll stay in there all day." Spike insisted. There was a long silence from the inside of the bathroom, and Spike knocked on the door again. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Um...Spike?" Faye hated to ask the man for anything, but she needed to dry off or she really would be in there all day. "Could you get me a towel?"

"You went in without a towel? That's pretty stupid." Spike laughed at her again, irritating Faye so much that she hit the door as though that act could somehow hurt him.

"Never mind. I'll just drip dry you insensitive ass." Faye sat on the edge of the tub, pouting as she waited for one of his smart ass comments, but she didn't hear anything. After awhile, this seemed strange enough that she spoke up again, "Are you still there?"

"I didn't say I wouldn't get you one." Spike answered. "Open up."

"No way, I'm naked." Faye stood, covering herself instinctively.

"Nothing I haven't seen before." Spike shot back.

"You are such an ass." Faye growled. "I don't want it. Just keep it."

"Gods, Faye, you don't have to be so uptight about it." Spike snorted. "That was ages ago, anyway."

"It was last week!" Faye reminded him.

"Ages ago." he agreed. "Now take the damn towel."

"Fine, but you better have your eyes closed, you pervert." Faye opened the door a crack, peeking to make sure his eyes were indeed closed.

"Come on, it's not like you didn't like it." Spike snorted.

"Yeah, it was the greatest sex ever." Faye's voice dripped with sarcasm as she reached for the towel before disappearing back inside the bathroom. "You're so conceited, you know? But you aren't half as wonderful as you seem to think you are."

"Yeah right, like you've had better." Spike crossed his arms at her response.

"If it makes you feel better to believe that, just go ahead." Faye told him, finishing with the towel and quickly picking up her clothes. It was then that she realized she had accidentally knocked them off the counter when she was looking for a towel, and now they were soaking wet. Sighing at this development, she simply tucked the towel around her body and grabbed her clothes before opening the door and brushing right by a very put out looking Spike.

"Faye." he grabbed her arm as she moved past him, pulling her back close enough that she could smell the scent of his cologne surrounding her. "I don't hate you." he told her, his voice serious and his eyes unusually soft. "Did you know that?"

"I...never said you did, did I?" Faye answered, a bit unnerved. She'd never really thought about it before, but he always smelled so nice. Not exactly fresh, but he smelled like Spike, and that was a pleasant smell.

"Yeah, you did." Spike reminded her. "I wanted you to know that I don't."

"Why?" Faye asked.

"I just...thought you should know." Spike answered, but she could tell he was expecting something to happen. Eventually, he let go of her arm though, seemingly disappointed as he headed back to his room.

"Strange..." Faye mumbled as she watched him go. "I thought he was waiting for the bathroom..."

----------

Faye yawned as she opened the ice cream carton, looking around for a spoon and bowl in the dimly lit kitchen. Finally, she found clean examples of both and dished herself out a bowl. Halfway through, she heard someone moving around in the next room, and looked up as a groggy Spike entered the kitchen.

"Trouble sleeping?" she asked, glancing from him back to her ice cream.

"You could say that." he answered, also looking down at the ice cream. "Can I have some?"

"If you can find another bowl and spoon." Faye laughed slightly. "Something bothering you?"

"How'd you know?" he asked, beginning to search.

"Well, you aren't wearing a shirt, and you always sleep in those pants, so I'm guessing you just woke up." Faye explained. "And your forehead is sweaty, so you were probably having a bad dream."

"I had no idea you paid that much attention to me." Spike chuckled, handing her the bowl to be filled.

"Don't start." Faye gave him a snide look. "You think you're some huge mystery, but you really aren't, Spike Speigel. Now, come on with me. We'll go eat this on the couch and you can tell me all about your bad dream."

"You are such a smart ass." Spike shook his head, but he followed her. They sat down, and for a while, they ate in silence, but suddenly Spike broke it, touching her side lightly. "How's your hip? Got a big bruise, I'll bet."

"It's...how'd you know about that?" Faye asked. He'd touched her right where she'd hit herself the day before.

"You've been favoring your right side just a bit when you walk, and I heard your fall the other day." he explained. "Plus, with that outfit you wear...if I get at just the right angle..." Spike leaned toward her as though he were trying to look down her shorts and Faye pushed him away.

"You ass! You've been sneaking peeks, haven't you?" Faye teased him.

"No, but I bet Jet has." Spike winked at her.

"No way, he'd never..." Faye narrowed her eyes at him. "You're trying to change the subject, aren't you? Come on, Spike. I'm not going to think you're some big idiot just because you had a bad dream. I already think that."

"Thanks, Faye." Spike rolled his eyes, turning back to his ice cream.

"Seriously, though, Spike." Faye touched his hand lightly to get his attention. "About what you said yesterday...I don't hate you either. Not even after...what you said."

"What I said?" Spike's brow furrowed. "What I said yesterday?"

"No...I mean that time that you...and I...and then the next morning..." Faye could feel tears in her eyes at the memory of his words, so she turned her face down where he couldn't see. "You were so mean...and I felt so stupid. I guess...you were tired, so it's not your fault."

"I'm sorry...I don't really remember much of what I said." Spike scratched his head. Faye's voice sounded very odd, and he couldn't think of what it was...

"You said...you were confused and then you saw me...and you said 'God dammit, what the hell was I thinking.' And I just felt...I never felt ugly before." Faye's shoulders shook with a silent sob, and suddenly Spike's eyes widened with realization.

"Oh Gods, Faye, are you crying?" his voice was hushed with shock, and the only effect his words had was to worsen her sobbing. "Oh shit...I hate it when women cry." Spike shook his head, hesitantly patting her on the shoulder. "Faye...come on, don't do that." For some reason, Spike's awkward attempts at comfort were only making her cry harder. "Dammit, Faye, you aren't supposed to cry! I said I was sorry." Spike looked around uncomfortably, setting his ice cream on the table and taking hers away so she wouldn't knock it over. "Faye..."

"I'm...sorry...I just..." Faye spoke brokenly between sobs, covering her face.

"Faye...I don't think you're ugly, if that makes you feel better." Spike rubbed the back of his neck, feeling extremely useless. He supposed he could try to hug her, but would she let him, or would she just hit him as hard as she could? "Faye, I don't know what you want me to do right now...I really don't handle this kind of thing well."

"Sorry..." she sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "Didn't mean...to get out of control like that." she smiled at him, but he could tell it was forced. "I hate doing that...crying like that."

"Maybe you're just tired." Spike suggested.

"Yeah." Faye rubbed her eyes again.

"I really don't think you're ugly." Spike added. "I didn't mean for it to be like that."

"Yeah." Faye nodded, grabbing her ice cream and standing up.

"Are...you going to bed?" Spike asked in surprise.

"I'm tired." she told him as she headed into the kitchen. "I hope you can get back to sleep too, after your dream."

"Uh, yeah." Spike realized he still hadn't told her about it. He didn't really want to tell her about it, but it was a bit insulting that she seemed not to care anymore. "Night, then."

"Yeah." she disappeared down the hallway, leaving Spike with his melting bowl of ice cream. He poked at it with his spoon for some time, wondering if she'd come back. Finally, he stood up, going to the kitchen to drop it off before going to bed. For some reason, he wasn't all that hungry.

"Guess I shoulda hugged her then." Spike sighed before going to bed.

*****

The End (Of Part 3, That Is)