Chapter Four
Spike watched the gang from under the safety of the covered porch. They were splashing in the lake, having a grand ol' time. Anya and Tara sunned themselves on the deck that lead out to the water in their bikinis. Tara had a sarong modesty tied around her waist. Dawn was waist deep in her cute, little green swimsuit, clinging onto Xander's back. They swam by Willow and Buffy splashing them, igniting a war. The four of them laughed and splashed while Anya and Tara looked on smiling.
Suddenly, he wished he was out there with them. Swimming and playing. He closed his eyes and imagined the warmth of the sun on his skin, a memory he had all but forgotten. He had never thought of not being a vampire. Until her, of course. And in that moment, watching her rise out from the water onto the deck with the other girls, patting herself dry and laying out on her towel, he wished he was human. He imagined laying out there next to her, applying sun lotion to her already sun kissed skin. He wished he was the one Dawn clung to, and was the one who could sit and talk and sun himself with his friends.
Angrily, he went inside. He slammed his fist down on the kitchen counter. Get a bloody grip on yourself, Spike. You're a creature of the darkness. An evil, despicable demon. You don't want to be human. You revel in causing pain and mayhem. You scourged half of Europe with Angelus. You eat humans, you don't wanna be one. He shook his head. But he did, if only for a moment, to be able to kiss her under the sun, and not under the moon.
"Hey Spike," Buffy said coming into the kitchen.
He looked up at her, " 'Lo."
"What's up with you, bad moody?"
"Nothin'."
She shrugged and opened the fridge, getting herself a glass of water. He cocked his head. Her short hair was wet, she had a towel wrapped around her middle, and she wore the sassiest looking black bikini. She drank her water and saw him through the bottom of the glass. "What?"
He bit his bottom lip and smirked. "Nothin'."
"What?" She asked. "Is there something on my face?" He moved towards her, like a jungle cat. A mean, black, incredibly sexy jungle cat. He took the glass from her hand and set it on the counter. "Spike..." she warningly. He held the hand she had the glass in and laced his fingers through hers. He took her other hand and did the same then brought their hands over her head and very, very slowly leaned in to kiss her.
A noise from upstairs startled the two and they broke away. "What was that?" Buffy asked.
"Squirrel?" Spike shrugged.
They cautiously went up the stairs. A thump came from their room. "It's in the room," Buffy whispered.
"Quick! Andrew summon something," Warren told him. The two watched as slayer and vampire approached the bedroom where Jonathan was.
Buffy pushed open the door and saw a furry animal on her bed. "Oh, it is a squirrel." She said. Just then the 'squirrel' jumped up and revealed it to be a snarling, foaming-at-the-mouth, demon-squirrel with red eyes. It flew at Buffy, it's claws slashing at her skin. The knocked it down and Spike grabbed it throwing it out the window where it poofed before it hit the ground.
"You all right?" He asked her. She nodded examining the slashes above her breast.
"It didn't rip my bathing suit, thank God," she muttered.
"Here," he made her sit on the bed. "I'll get you some stuff to clean it up." He disappeared and returned from the bathroom in Dawn, Willow and Tara's bedroom with gauze and peroxide.
"You don't have to do that," she told him as he poured some of the liquid onto a piece of cotton.
"Sit still," he said and he pressed the cotton on her cuts.
"Ouch," she whined. "That stings."
He rolled his eyes, "Quit being such a sissy, slayer," he said to her. She glared at him, but let him continue. He gingerly mopped up the remaining blood and threw the cotton in the trash. He placed a large piece of gauze over the three scratches and taped the edges. She smiled at how careful he was being and how intently his eyes were watching her while he tended to her. "There," he said smoothing his hand over her new bandage. "Good as new."
Buffy leaned over and lightly kissed his lips. "Thank you." They went back downstairs where the gang was all waiting for them in the kitchen.
"Buffy what took so long?" Willow asked, noticing that Spike and her just came from her bedroom.
"What happened to you?" Dawn asked pointing at her bandage.
"Oh, a demon-squirrel thing was in our... my bedroom. It took a swipe at me with these nasty, sharp claws," Buffy explained.
"Man," Xander shook his head. 'We haven't even been gone a day and already the demons are attacking."
"It's okay," Buffy assured him. "Spike threw it out the window. I doubt he survived to tell his friends."
"Well, is everyone hungry?" Tara asked. "We could make sandwiches. Besides, it's getting cloudy. I think it's gonna rain."
Dawn stuck out her bottom lip, pouting, "How can it rain on a beautiful day like this?"
"Well, I'm gonna hit the hay," Spike said faking a yawn. "You know, nocturnal?" He turned to leave and gave Buffy a little look, before going upstairs. "Yeah, I'm gonna change," Buffy said trailing after Spike.
Buffy shut the door to the bedroom once Spike and her were inside. She pounced on him before he could do anything. He fell back onto the bed with her straddling him. She kissed him hard and stroked his tongue. Spike let her take the reigns, 'cause obviously she had a plan. "Mmm, tell me you love me," she said.
"I love you Buffy. You know that," he said. She pulled his shirt up over his head and ran her hand down his chest. He fumbled for the tie in the back of her bikini top, almost getting it undone when Dawn called for Buffy.
They both groaned and stood up. "Turn around," she ordered him.
"What?"
"Turn around. I'm gonna change."
He stared at her. "You're bloody impossible..." he muttered turning around. She undid her top and stepped out of her bottoms. Spike smirked. He could see her in the mirror on the wall. She pulled her head through a small white t-shirt and put on a clean pair of undies.
"Spike!" She yelled. "I know you can see me in the mirror. Close your eyes!"
He did so and chuckled. "Then why'd you keep changing?"
She tied the tops of her yoga pants and smacked him on the back of the head. "Good night, Spike," she said sweetly. He heard her close the door and descend the stairs. He laid back on the bed. He looked over at the window. She had closed the curtains before she left.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Did you see that?" Andrew squealed.
"Yeah, the slayer and Spike getting it on," Warren said. The back door of the van opened and a bruised and dirty Jonathan climbed in. "Good work."
"Yeah," Jonathan grumbled. "What was that thing you summoned?" He asked Andrew.
Oh, an Ar'dil'la demon," Andrew said. "It's a ferocious little thing that self-destructs before it's about to die."
"Neat," Jonathan said wiping the demon's entrails off his face. "Did you see anything?"
"Yeah, perfect reception. Plus we caught the slayer and Spike in the act," Warren said.
"They were about to have sex then we saw Buffy change!" Andrew said excitedly.
"You saw Buffy naked?" Jonathan asked wide-eyed.
Andrew shook his head. "No, Spike's head was in the way, but I caught a glimpse of shoulder." He giggled.
"Gentlemen," Warren said rubbing his hand together. "Phase A is complete. "Now, we sit back and watch until the time comes for B."
"When is that?" Jonathan asked.
"Uh... I dunno. But when the time comes, we'll know."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tired, Buffy yawned and went into her room. They had all eaten a late lunch, watched a movie and when it started raining, the sound of it pitter-pattering on the roof lulled them all to sleep. It had been a good day, she decided. Now, it was time for a good night of much needed sleep. She kicked off her shoes and socks and looked at her bed. Spike was sleeping there. He had taken off his boots and jacket, he didn't have his shirt on either. She allowed herself a smile while she watched him. He didn't breathe, but his eyelids fluttered so she knew he was dreaming. She crawled under the sheets, trying not to disturb him.
Spike knew she was there. He hadn't been asleep. In fact, he had just woken up moments earlier, like he knew she was coming. He half-expected her to make him move onto the floor, but she didn't. She just simply crawled under the covers next to him. That's all that separated them, were a few sheets. She had her back to him, and he wanted to reach over and wrap his arm around her, but he didn't. He just traced the outline of her silhouette with his eyes, until she turned over and faced him.
He closed his eyes quickly, but Buffy had seen him. "Spike?" She whispered.
He tried to pretend he was asleep, but he knew he was caught. "Want me to get on the floor?"He asked not opening his eyes.
"No. You can stay here."
He opened his eyes, "But what if someone comes in?"
She shrugged. "We'll make up some pathetic lie or I'll just push you off." "Right then," he said lying flat on his back and closing his eyes again. She looked at him, remembering what Dawn had said earlier.
"Did you see Spike?" Dawn asked her mouth half full of turkey sandwich.
"Close your mouth, Dawn," Buffy told her.
"Yeah," Xander said his mouth full of food too. "It's impolite," he winked at her.
Dawn giggled and swallowed. "Did you see Spike earlier?" She asked a little more clearly.
"Why would I see Spike?" Buffy asked avoiding her eyes.
"No, under the porch. He looked kinda sad," she said stuffing a handful of chips in her mouth and crunching them.
"Sad?" Tara asked. "How so?"
"Like... I dunno, sad. Or maybe wistful. Like he wanted to join us or something," Dawn said.
"Aw, poor Spikey sad 'cause he can't play," Xander mocked.
"That's sad, Dawn. When did you notice that?" Willow asked.
"When I looked up and waved at him. He had this strange look on his face, like a sick kid who can't go outside 'cause he's sick. He didn't wave back," she said disappointedly.
"Well, it had to be hard for him," Anya commented taking a sip of her iced tea. "To be cooped up indoors while he watches other people have fun."
"He's a vampire. His idea of fun is killing people," Xander said.
"Still it must be lonely for him," Tara said. "Not being able to be with people that he wants to be with." She met Buffy's eyes.
"Maybe we could stay inside with him tomorrow? Make him feel better," Dawn suggested.
"It looks like we might have to anyway," Willow said looking outside. "There's a big storm coming."
"Couldn't we just... not?" Xander asked.
"C'mon Xander, he did help us out when Buffy... was uh... gone," Dawn said.
"Fine," Xander mumbled. "Since we probably will be staying inside, might as well look like we're doing a good deed."
Buffy didn't say anything during the whole conversation. She just picked at her sandwich on her plate. She didn't notice Spike. Well, she knew he was there, but she figured he was staring at her. She didn't realize that he actually might've wanted to be out there with them. She poked him in the side. "Are you awake?"
"What do you want?" He murmured.
She thought for a moment. If he did want to be out there, he wasn't going to say anything about it. He wouldn't, that wasn't how he was. "Nothing," she said.
He opened his eyes to look at her. "Not nothing. You wouldn't have jabbed me in the ribs for nothing."
She sighed. No, she wasn't going to say anything about it. Instead, she took his arm and put it around her, settling her head on his hard, cold chest. He raised his eyebrows but invited the action. He stroked her cheek with his other hand and they soon fell asleep.
