Chapter Two: Broken Bowls and Star Wars
(Muchas Gracias for the reviews, especially dawn and maddman. You both made my day. Okay, I didn't put this in the last chapter, but I don't own Buffy or Star Wars. I just like borrowing them.)
Buffy awoke with a start. She had that dream again. The one where she's falling but before she hits the ground she wakes up. She glanced at the clock. The red digital numbers read, 4:54 am, it had only been 46 minutes since she had fallen asleep. After their 'talk', Spike had drifted off to sleep, while Buffy counted the cracks on the ceiling, managed to memorize every detail of Spike's arm, which had been wrapped protectively around her all night. She had tried every trick to fall asleep, but it was no use.
Two excruciatingly, long hours later, she heard a crash upstairs followed by a scream. Thanking God for small mercies, she risked waking the sleeping vampire and rushed upstairs, half-hoping for a demon.
"What happened?" She demanded, bursting into the kitchen on full alert.
Willow, who was sweeping up broken pieces of a ceramic cereal bowl, greeted her friend warmly. "Oh, nothing," she smiled. "Just a case of butterfingers. One of the SITs dropped a bowl then cut herself trying to pick up the pieces."
"Oh," Buffy said slightly disappointed.
"Aw, don't worry Buff. I'm sure I can fix it with some super glue." Will examined the tiny pieces of blue. "Or maybe we could invest in some environmentally-friendly paper dishware."
"As long as we recycle," Xander said coming into the kitchen, he sat at the counter and popped a handful of Lucky Charms into his mouth.
Anya, who followed him in, added, "Quite. Recycling can be very good for the Earth." Drawing raised eyebrows from the other three she added in her Anya-tact, "Plus you can use the recycle stubs as tax write-offs."
Willow rolled her eyes at the money-hungry ex-vengeance demon. "You want some breakfast?" She asked Buffy.
"No," Buffy replied. "Coffee."
"Coffee?" Since when do you do the Don Juan?" Xander asked.
The blond shrugged, " If I don't pump some caffeine into my body, I'm afraid I might pass out at anytime."
"Still not able to sleep?" Will asked concerned.
"I dozed off for like half an hour last night with Sp..." Buffy stopped when she saw Xander's look of disgust on his face when she mentioned the bleach-blond vampire's name.
Willow, sensing the obvious tension, quickly continued. "Hey, how 'bout i try something to help you fall asleep?"
Buffy grimaced. "No offense Will, but I'm not into the whole magicks helping me out for my personal problems."
"Especially after what happened the last time," Xander added, referring to Buffy's unnerving rise from the grave ritual the performed.
"No," the witch protested. "Meditation. No magicks involved, promise."
Buffy looked at Xander, who shrugged as he shoveled the marshmallow cereal into his mouth. She sighed, "All right."
Dawn sighed irritably from her perch on the couch. She had always wondered what it'd be like to have a large family. But after living with 10 girls her age, her older sister; the slayer, Willow; a powerful witch, an annoying, former 'evil' 'genius', and a vampire with a soul in the basement, in a house with one bathroom, she was ready to pull hair. Not to mention the constant demonic attacks, wonky occurrences, and the looming threat of the First, to keep everyone on edge.
At this moment, Andrew was rambling about some Sci-fi movie, while the SITs chattered noisily.
"Ya-uh," Andrew objected. "Anakin Skywalker and Lord Darth Vader are the same person. The Emperor made him more machine now than man twisted and evil, after he turned to the dark side."
One of the SITs, Megan, rolled her eyes, "Whatever. All I know is that Hayden Christensen was damned fine in the last Star Wars movie." The other girls all squealed in agreement.
Andrew contemplated for a moment, then shook his head. "You slayerettes have no respect for something as great as Star Wars."
"Hey, Hey," Xander came into the room looking around incredulously at all the girls. The older girls were behind him. "Discussing movies while waiting for the Big Bad to Strike? Shouldn't you all be training?"
"I dunno, Xan. A conversation centered around Hayden Christensen is definitely important," Buffy teased.
Xander looked around the room, realizing there was void of testosterone. He was surrounded by girls and Andrew. He sat in a chair. After a moment he said. "You know, I always saw myself as a Luke Skywalker type."
Buffy knitted her brows, "Really? I always imagined you as the big, furry guy."
"Chewie! You guys are making me Chewbacca?!" He exclaimed.
"I find you more like the ultra-sexy Han Solo," Andrew spoke up.
Xander gave him a look of horror and disgust while Buffy and Willow exchanged glances.
"If anyone's Han Solo, it's Spike," Dawn said, beckoning the presence of the vampire. He was leaning against the wall in the darkest possible corner.
Xander's face darkened, he glowered at Spike. Buffy walked over and closed the blinds on the windows, so Spike was able to move without being singed by the sunlight. The SITs stared at him adoringly.
"If I'm Han Solo, does that make Buffy Princess Leia?" Spike asked looking directly at Buffy. She tried not to respond to him, turning away from him.
Willow came to her rescue and broke the rather uncomfortable silence. "Buffy's hair wouldn't look good in those double buns."
Everyone chuckled, grateful for the humorous remark.
"You're right," Andrew whispered to Dawn. "Spike is definitely Han Solo."
Dawn rolled her eyes, she watched her sister walk into the kitchen, then Spike follow her. The SITs watched Spike too, not doubt fixated on his tight, jeaned behind. Dawn sulked in the corner of the couch, while the rest of the people in the living room continued their Star Wars conversation. Once again, she was left out. Alone always, never able to quite fit in. She didn't want to have an inferiority complex, it's just the way things worked themselves out.
Inside the kitchen, Buffy collected the dirty dishes and put them into the sink. Spike watched from the doorway. "I know you're there Spike," she said turning. "Slayer senses, remember."
Spike smirked, "Then why is your heart beating so fast?" When she gave him a bewildered look he smirked again. "Vampire senses, luv."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "My heart is not beating fast."
"Sure it is," he replied. He moved from the doorway to her in the lightning fast speed he had. His body moved into hers, her back against the sink, and she closed her eyes. Spike moved his head around hers, his eyelashes brushed her cheek as he breathed in her scent. Her heart was in fact, racing, he could feel it in her chest against his own lifeless one.
"Spike..." she started, but he shushed her.
"Shh, luv," he pressed a black painted finger to her lips. "Just let us be." So she stopped. They just stood there, not really touching, except their bodies. No clumsy groping, or heated, lusty kisses. Just being close enough to feel her heart beat was all the intoxication for him. Buffy never remembered feeling like this with him. Sure, they had had some pretty torrid affairs, but this, this closeness, was giving her all the pleasure she needed. It was comforting and her heart slowed from the excitement before, to a rhythmic, calmer, thump, thump, thump.
Their moment was interrupted by an uncomfortable, familiar, clearing of the throat. Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief.
"Giles, what's up?" Buffy asked in an almost guilty pitch.
"Well," the flustered Brit said adjusting his glasses on his nose. "Willow told me you've been having difficulty sleeping."
"You have?" Spike asked, quizzically looking at his lover.
Ignoring Spike's question, Buffy looked at Giles. "Yeah, Willow's going to help me with that. You don't need to worry." She added the last sentence with a cross of her arms over her chest and a firm stare.
Giles nodded absently. Spike raised his eyebrows. The tension between Buffy and Giles was at a peak since that principal/child of the slayer that Spike last killed, Wood, tried to kill Spike. Apparently, Giles had a hand in the matter as well. Spike noticed that Buffy had moved in front of him, protecting Spike from Giles.
"Anything else?" Buffy asked.
"Oh, no, no. You should get some rest, Buffy. It wouldn't be good if you weren't 100% if something happened." he said concerned for his slayer.
Buffy nodded, "Thanks." She said making it clear she wanted Giles to leave. She and Spike watched him walk out of the kitchen.