Title: Forgiving Evil
Chapter 7/12: The Storm
(see chapter one for more detail)
Buffy and Spike jumped up from the couch when they heard Xander's curses. Buffy looked back and forth between Xander and Spike but had no idea what to say.
"Buffy? What the hell is going on here?" Xander screamed. When Buffy couldn't answer he looked to Spike. "Why'd you come back Spike? Still looking to get in good with Buffy? To bang her one more time before you take off again?"
"Look, Xander-" Spike began.
"No! Don't even try to explain yourself. You don't rape someone and then come back and everything's fine! You don't deserve Buffy!" Xander took a menacing step towards Spike.
"Funny you should say that actually…" Spike said but before he could finish the thought Xander had pinned him against the wall.
"Now you're gonna get what you deserve Spike." Xander reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a stake.
"Xander! No!" Buffy cried.
"Why not, Buffy? He's an evil soulless thing and he doesn't deserve to exist." Xander raised the stake.
"He's not evil anymore. Xander, he can't fight back. Just let him go." Buffy pleaded.
Xander chose to not hear Buffy's desperate words as he aimed the stake at Spike. Buffy reacted in a split second and she did what she hoped she wouldn't have to. She punched Xander. Xander fell back to the ground and the stake rolled away from him.
"Bloody hell!" Spike gasped. Then he looked at Buffy. She took a step back and raised her hand to her mouth. Her eyes were wide. Xander picked himself up off the floor and glared at Spike.
"Whatever. I'm outta here." He said as he stormed out the front door. Buffy's knees went weak and she fell to the floor.
"Oh God. What did I do? I hit him. I didn't want to. Oh God." She mumbled. Spike kneeled down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. Buffy's sobs grew louder as the thunder roared outside.
Minutes later, her sobs had died down and Spike realized she had fallen asleep. He picked her up and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. He laid her down on her bed and tucked her in beneath the blankets. He closed the window to keep out the rain and made his way back downstairs. As he reached the bottom step Dawn walked through the front door.
"Hey Platelet." He greeted her.
"Hey Spike." She closed her umbrella and took off her coat. "What are you doing here? Where's Buffy?" she questioned.
"I stopped by right before Social Services showed up. I hung around and helped Buffy answer questions. Afterwards, Buffy and me were sitting on the couch when Xander walked in and caught us red handed, so to speak. He was about to stake me when Buffy punched him. He stormed out and Buffy started crying. She fell asleep and I brought her upstairs. I was just leaving." She followed him into the kitchen as he went to get his blanket. There was another loud clap of thunder and Dawn jumped.
"Spike, please stay. If Buffy's asleep I don't wanna be here alone. Thunder storms kinda freak me out." Dawn told him.
Spike was touched. "Sure, I'll stay. Oh! Maybe we can make some hot cocoa…do you have any of those little marshmallows?"