Chapter 21

Buffy made room, and Spike crawled into the bed with her. They curled around each other, her head resting his shoulder, their legs twined together.

"You ok?" She asked.

"Feel fine. Are you ok?"

"Better now."

He kissed the top of her head, then sighed, and kissed her again. She tilted her face up, and he peppered her forehead, cheeks, and lips with short, soft kisses. He covered her lips again, slowly intoxicating her with the gentle exploration of her mouth, is tongue delving deep into the softness. She happily kissed him back, relieved to feel his warm lips again. Wait…warm?

They pulled back from each other at the same time, staring at each other questioningly.

"Do you hear that?" Spike asked.

"What?"

"Buffy, why do I have a heartbeat?"

"Your heart is beating?"

"I'm breathing too."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh, yeah. Vampire here, I can hear my heart pretty clearly."

"Are you still a vampire?"

His face shifted, his fangs extended. He grinned at her, and then shook it off. "Looks like it."

"Ok, this is really weird." She took a deep breath and shouted, "Giles!" as loud as she could.

Spike winced. "Warn a bloke the next time you do that, Slayer, it bloody hurts."

"Sorry. Giles, get in here now!"

Spike rolled his eyes and sighed. His ears would stop ringing eventually. Fortunately, Giles showed up before she had a chance to blow his eardrums out completely.

"What? What is it? Is someone hurt?"

Buffy pointed to Spike. "He has a heartbeat."

"And?"

"And? And? I bloody well shouldn't have a heartbeat!"

"Well, obviously the plan wouldn't work if the body had died," Giles pointed out. "Apparently, the body needed to be near death for the demon to take it over, hence the extraordinary loss of blood, but not completely dead."

"Plan?"

Buffy's eyes widened and she spoke quickly before Giles could launch into a spiel of their great and wonderful plan. "It's nothing, Spike, we'll talk about it later."

"I want to talk about it now. What's going on? Why did you bring me back?"

Buffy was going to suggest they discuss when he had healed and was stronger, but decided that might not be a good idea. It would probably start a huge, knock-down, kick-ass fight and Buffy wasn't interested in that…much. Ok, she wanted to spar with him again, but not like that.

"We brought you back because we needed to heal William's body," Buffy admitted softly.

Spike untangled himself from her, and pulled himself out of the bed. "I see."

"No, Spike…"

"I should have realized it. Of course you wouldn't bring me back because you wanted me, no, no, you just found a new way to use me."

"Spike, I thought…"

"Will we fit another round of Kick-The-Spike in before you kill me again?" He looked at Buffy. "You of all people should know better."

"Spike, I didn't know what else to do! William was going to die. Period. Do not pass go, do not collect $200."

"You should have let him."

"You shouldn't have saved him, Spike! He would have died in that old warehouse, he would have died from all the blood loss, but you saved him. Why did you do that, Spike?"

"Because he didn't deserve to die like that again."

The admission effectively silenced the room; neither Buffy nor Giles knew how to respond to that. Spike never looked away from Buffy, waiting for her to do or say something.

Finally, she spoke. "Spike, this would be easy if William was just like you. Or if William was a giant jerk. Or if I didn't spend the past several months getting to know who he is, what his dreams are, and his hopes, and his poetry. I couldn't just let him die. At the end of the day, I'm still the Slayer. I still protect the innocent, and you can't get much more innocent than William. I'm sorry that we had to do this to you. I can't make you leave again, though. That decision is yours to make."

"And you'll just resent me for the rest of your life if I don't decide to go, is that right?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, no I won't resent you. I said it's your decision, and it is."

"I need a cig. And a drink. And some real clothes."

Giles nodded and quietly left the room, leaving them to sort the rest of this out in private.

"I'm sorry," Buffy said. "I didn't mean to hurt you like this."

"It'll just take some time to adjust, is all. How long did you expect I needed to stay?"

"A week, maybe? We didn't know how fast it would work, or if it would work at all."

"Then what? Poof, goodbye Spike?"

"Yeah."

"A week, huh?"

"Maybe. Maybe longer."

He began walking towards the bed slowly, apparently, his anger gone. "You have any ideas on how to pass the time? I get bored."

She smiled. "A few, maybe."

"Maybe?" He took another step, and then grabbed her waist and pulled her forward, closing the distance between them. "What do you have in mind?"

Spike gently pulled the hair away from her face and kissed her jaw. "Oh, I don't know, maybe read a few books."

He kissed her neck. "Uh huh. You read?"

"Hey! I read a lot."

He licked her pulse. "What else?"

"Maybe watch some TV. You can catch up on Passions."

He pulled at her skin softly with his lips. "Don't suppose you taped it for me?"

"I must have forgot."

He bit her with the blunt, human teeth and she whimpered. "That it?"

"Walks. Walks are…oh God, Spike."

"Hmmm?"

"Don't stop what you're doing."

"Don't plan to. Miss me, pet?"

"Uh huh."

He walked her backwards until her legs hit the bad. His lips skimmed her throat, and then lower. He bit her nipple gently through her shirt, and she gasped as hot lust fully exploded in her, making her wet, making her tingle.

"Spi—ike."

"Hmmmm?"

"That feels really good."

Spike grasped the bottom of her shirt, intending to pull it over her head, but was stopped by the sound of approaching feet and the opening of the door. He let her go and stepped back quickly.

"I brought you some clean clothes. I couldn't find any cigarettes, but Angel has some fine scotch…"

Spike narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but took the offered gift with a slight nod of appreciation.

"I trust the two of you worked everything out?"

"Nearly."

"Angel wants to know if you'd like him to drive you home tonight, Buffy."

"We'll both go."

"Do you think that's wise?" Giles asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Wesley wants to talk to him too, about the spell."

"He can come over tomorrow. We've had enough excitement for one day," Buffy said.

As they spoke, Spike quietly changed from his hospital gown to his jeans and t-shirt. He observed the pair's exchange, noting with interest that Giles seemed much more respectful of Buffy than he had before…well, before. It looked as though their relationship had smoothed over, which pleased Spike. She needed her watcher in her life, whether she knew it or not.

Spike wondered what her relationship with Angel was. It was clear that they were working together, and they were close, but was that it? Spike thought it probably was, or else she wouldn't allow him to feed off her wrist and give her big hickeys. He couldn't help but laugh quietly as Giles did his best to keep his eyes from the large mark on her neck.

"Yes, well," Giles finally said. "Angel will be around shortly. And we'll drop by tomorrow morning?"

"Afternoon. I'm still exhausted."

"We'll bring sandwiches."

"Thanks."

Giles looked at Spike one final time, and then left the room.

"Staying over at your place, huh? Am I taking the couch?"

"No, but I can tell you one thing you probably will be taking."

He smirked. "I like the sounds of that."