It is the light that stirs Buffy from her peaceful sleep. The softness of the bed, the filtered light, and the strong arms that are holding her – all of this adds up to not getting up.
Mmm. This is definitely a good.
She carefully turns in Spike's arms and traces the outline of his jaw with her finger. His eyes are closed in deep slumber and she takes the quiet time to study him.
Even in sleep, his hands are holding her in a firm caress. She smiles inwardly and lightly brushes her lips across his. No response. Deep sleeper. She grins. I'll have to test that sometime.
She traces her fingertip along his eyebrow when her eyes drift away from his face and over to the window. Her breath catches in her throat.
The first rays of the sun are sliding over the sill towards them.
She bolts upright, startling Spike out of his stillness.
"S-slayer?" His voice is deeper than normal, velvet-covered gravel. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and attempts to gauge the situation as she darts off of the bed and over to the window.
"Damn!" Buffy pulls the shade down with a little too much force and it snaps from the anchor, letting in more light.
"Hey!" Spike spins off of the bed and to the other side of the room. "What the-" He stops as he watches her frantically trying to cover the window with a blanket, cursing under her breath. He exhales unnecessarily, placing his hands on his knees. He begins to laugh softly, at first, and then more heartily. At the sound of his laughter, Buffy spins around glaring at him.
"What's so funny?" She crosses her arms, her jaw set in anger.
Spike is still chuckling until he looks up and his eyes meet hers. What he sees there is anger masking fear. Fear of what, though, he doesn't know.
"That was stupid – you could've…could've." She sighs. "We have to be more careful."
All that Spike can do is smile. He crosses over to her and places his hands on her shoulders. Yep, she's trembling all right. He runs his fingers back and forth across her shoulders, waiting for her eyes to meet his, and she begins to relax. Her arms hang down at her sides, and she finally does look up. He steps into her and places his hand on the back of her head, leaning it against his chest. His arms enfold her. Her arms circle his waist feeling the cool skin beneath his shirt.
Spike doesn't say anything. He knows. She had been frightened for him. She'd seen the sunlight coming in and it had terrified her. If he needed any confirmation that last night, something he suspected had been a dream up until this very moment, is real: here it is. She loves him.
They stand that way for a few moments until she pulls back a little and looks up at him. He places a kiss on the tip of her nose.
"Love you."
"Love you too."
He kisses her forehead and turns from her. She watches as he gathers his coat and goes to the door.
"See you in a little while, Slayer." He smiles.
"Yep." She smiles back. She is sad to have him leave so soon, but she knows that having them emerge together from her bedroom would only be fuel on the fire that is the Potential Rumor Mill.
She takes a deep breath, stretches and heads to the bathroom, grabbing her robe. She's going to take advantage of being up so early by getting first dibs on the hot water.
"Aw yeah."
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Spike, in the basement, cleans up and changes into a fresh set of clothes. His lips are afflicted with a permanent smile that periodically travels up to his eyes and back down only to repeat the trip as he recalls the last 12 hours.
Gotta maintain, though. Can't have this distracting her or the others. Things to kill, evil to fight. Girl to love. Damn, there goes the smile again.
He thinks of her smiling. I love you. He still can't quite fathom it. He dresses absent-mindedly and heads up the steps. When he reaches the top, she is there. The smile is plaguing her as well, apparently.
"Hey again." She blushes. Blushing for me? Oh man…
"Hey yourself." He grins, his tongue curling against his teeth. Don't kiss him…don't kiss him...but so want to.
They are both snatched out of the moment by the sound of clanging dishes and voices coming from the kitchen. Spike winks at her, puts on his best I'm-just-hangin face, and strolls into the kitchen. Buffy follows closely behind, but she sneaks a glance, amazed at his acting ability.
They run smack dab into a 3-ring circus complete with giggling, bickering teenage girls, a yawning Willow and their…uh…hostage, Andrew with that damn video camera.
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Author's note: Okay, so this is where 'Storyteller' comes in. I suggest you watch the episode because I'm not going to re-hash it here. The next chapter will take place post 'Storyteller' with my interpretation of the rest of the series.
Thanks again for reading and for your reviews. It's so exciting to have an audience!
~Xionin
TBC