Chapter 4
Dawn sat up slowly. Everything ached and her head felt like it was going to explode. She looked around the basement apartment and couldn't see any sign of Spike. She slid slowly to the edge of the bed and tried to stand up. Pain lanced through her ankle the moment she put weight on it.
"Ok, so going to look for Spike isn't an option." Dawn said to the empty room. She scooted back in the bed and lay down. She was going to have to ask Spike to bring the television down here. There were a couple of books on the nightstand but her head hurt too much to concentrate on little words.
She heard the crypt door open. Spike really should do something about that awful squeal it made. The trap door slid open and Spike jumped down holding two brown paper grocery bags. Dawn's stomach rumbled. She had realized she was hungry until she saw the bags of food.
"How you feeling, Niblet?" Spike asked as he took the bags over to the small kitchenette. He put milk, hot pockets, pot pies, chicken nuggets and a bottle of ranch dressing in the fridge. Microwaveable ramen noodles and other dry things went in the cabinets.
"Everything hurts. My entire body is one big bruise. I feel just ducky." Dawn grumbled.
"Goin to take a while to heal, even with the almost slayer package." Spike said as he fixed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her. He pulled a paper towel off the roll he'd bought and plopped the sandwich in the middle of it. He poured milk into a mostly clean glass.
"Thanks," Dawn said taking the sandwich and the milk.
"You know, I talked to Buffy earlier. She thinks you've run away. She's worried sick, Niblet." Spike said sinking into a chair he'd drug close to the bed. He stretched his legs out in front of him and toed off his boots.
"Did you tell her anything?" Dawn asked.
"No, but I'm hanging my ass out for you here." Spike grumbled. How was it Summers women could make him do anything they wanted him too, oh sure he grumbled and groused about it but in the end he did exactly what they wanted him to. He glanced up at Dawn. It was that Summers mouth, so damned expressive and those lips, perfect for pouting or kissing. He grumbled to himself. He was not thinking about kissing Dawn. He drug his eyes away from her mouth and up to her eyes.
"I know Spike and I appreciate it. If Buffy found out about the things I can do, I'd never hear the end of it. She'd move me in with Dad for sure, just to get me off the Hellmouth. I've never even met him; you know that, at least not really because I didn't exist when he was around. I thought he'd come for Buffy's funeral because at least he knew her. I mean she is, was, his daughter. He sent a really pretty spray of flowers. He said he was in Spain on business at the time. "Dawn rambled and picked at her sandwich.
"Don't let him bother you, Niblet. He's a wanker and not worth your time." Spike said.
"Is this the part where you tell me it's his loss?" Dawn said sarcastically. She'd heard this speech from Buffy, Willow and Xander.
"Well it is. Both his daughters have grown into amazing women. If he had a brain in his bleedin head he'd be shoutin it to the rooftops."
She smiled. Somehow, it sounded better coming from Spike.
"I've been thinking, why does a crypt need a basement? Especially a basement with a fireplace." Dawn asked.
"Crypt was here first. Sunnydale was a hot spot during prohibition, not surprising really. Because of that mob activity was pretty high here. I figure a bootlegger or mobster, maybe both, had this built as a hideout. He didn't want to rough it and it gets cold down here sometimes hence the fireplace. Tunnels lead all over Sunnydale from here. Bloke doesn't have to worry about being caught down here if it comes to making a quick escape." Spike explained.
"That's cool. You make history so much more interesting then Mr. Heanin." Dawn said.
Spike shrugged. "Lived a good deal of it."
"You could be a history teacher." Dawn said.
"The bursting into flames thing might be a hindrance, Dawnie. Not to mention evil, remember." Spike said.
"I'm bored." Dawn said.
Spike chuckled. "Can't really take you out on the town with Big Sis conducting the big search."
"So what do you do in here during the day?" Dawn asked.
Spike shrugged. "Watch the soaps and game shows. I read a little bit. I used to be a poet you know, bloody awful one but a poet none the less."
"So read me one of your poems." Dawn said.
Spike muttered. "Did you miss where I said I was bloody awful?"
"I'm subjected to poetry by the entire senior class in lit. You can't be that bad. Come on, I'm sick. You have to do what the sick person wants." Dawn said.
Spike grumbled again. "Alright, let me think, been a long time since I've recited poetry to anyone."
Dawn finished her sandwich and milk while Spike "thought." She sat up straighter and tucked the blankets around her legs.
He cleared his throat and stood up. "Lips on lips/soft, sweet, red/intoxicating like old wine. Hands caressing skin/like sculptor and masterpiece/breath coming fast, wet, hot/Tumultuous desire toppling/ Man and woman entwined in embrace/entranced with love, eyes blind/focused on the promise of tomorrows." Spike executed a very fancy bow and sat back down with a grin.
Dawn applauded. "Ok, way better then Brett Starksy and he got his published in the school paper."
Spike chuckled. "Good to know I can out poet a seventeen year old."
"You wrote that one?" Dawn asked.
Spike nodded. "Sometime in the late nineteenth century. I think we were in Italy. I'd just eaten two lovers in the park and was inspired."
Dawn wrinkled her nose. That was more information then she needed to know about the inspiration of the poem. She cocked her head and looked at Spike, even sitting innocently in a chair barefoot he carried a dangerous edge. It lingered on him, like cologne. "Do you miss it? Eating people?"
"I used to, not so much anymore. I've gotten used to helping the white hats, drinking pig's blood. It's not as bad as I thought it would be." Spike admitted.
"So is it more fun to be on the good side or the evil side?" Dawn asked.
"More fun, definitely the evil side, no worries there, no self sacrificing it's all about fun and what feels good. The good side is filled with self sacrifice and doing what's right even though it hurts like bloody hell. It's funny though; doing the evil stuff it's like pitching dirt in a bottomless grave. The more dirt you throw in the emptier it seems. There's never enough to chase that hollow feeling away. When the fun's over you have to rush 'round like mad to replace it with more fun, to keep that hollow feeling away. Doing good on the other hand, even a little bit of it fills that bottomless grave right up." Spike snorted and stood up. "Bloody hell, I'm beginning to sound like a knight in bleedin shinin armor."
Dawn giggled. "Well you did save me and I think you're right. I mean it sounds good. You know, I've been thinking about this for awhile and I've got a theory about you."
"About me? Inspired lots of things in my time, I'm sure but never a theory. Alright, so tell me." Spike sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Okay so it goes like this. You used to be evil, like really evil-"
"Hello, still evil here." Spike interrupted.
"Do you want to hear my theory or not?" Dawn said.
"Alright, I'll be quiet. Go on." Spike relented.
"Ok so anyway, you used to be evil but since you've come to Sunnydale you've started changed, maybe evolving into something better. It started with you helping Buffy stop Angel from sucking the world into hell-"
"Just did that because I liked having all the happy meals on legs around." Spike defended himself.
Dawn glared at him but continued. "And then there was when you left town after kidnapping Willow and Xander, without killing them. And you didn't kill Buffy when you got the gem of Amara-"
"I tried and I went to LA and tortured Angel good and proper." Spike said indignantly.
"Well, yah but he was your Sire and isn't torture just like a vampires way of showing sibling rivalry?" Dawn said.
Spike grumbled. Girl had a point. "Go on, or is that the end of your theory?'
"No. Anyway, then you got chipped and I know at first it was the chip that had you not doing evil things and you kind of had a back slide after the chip. I mean you helped Adam but you know I think it was one of those things. You know when someone tells you not to do something; the first thing you go out and do is what they said not to. The chip was telling you not to be evil, so naturally the first thing you wanted to do was be evil and prove you hadn't lost your Big Bad status."
"I haven't." Spike protested again.
Dawn shot him another look. "But then you started doing good things and helping Buffy and I don't think it had anything to do with the chip. It could have to do with you having a crush on Buffy."
"I do not!" Spike exclaimed.
"Spike, give it up. You stalked her long before I got my powers. Everyone knows you have a crush on Buffy." Dawn said.
Spike grumbled and groused under his breath. "Alright, fine. I've got a crush on the Slayer. I know it's never going to come of anything though. She loves the big pouf. That's never going to change. The type of thing they have doesn't. They'll be old and gray and wrinkled, or she will, and they'll still be bleedin crazy for each other. So yeah, I have a crush on the Slayer. I also have a crush on Selma Hayek. I have as much of a chance with her as I do with Buffy."
"So in short, my theory is that you're becoming good. Eventually you'll be as good as Angel." Dawn finished.
"Oh bollocks no, I don't have a soul, Dawnie. You can't just get a soul. I'd have to be cursed like Peaches and there's that nasty bit of no nookie, no thanks. I can't be good without a soul, Niblet." Spike said.
Dawn sighed. "Some people argue that dogs don't have souls either, and they're good."
"Oh bloody fantastic. I think I liked it better when you were comparing me to Angel instead of a dog." Spike said.
*
"Okay, I'm going to LA. I'm hoping Angel can help me some of his contacts there. I can't just sit around and wait for the Sunnydale Police. We know how great they are. Xander, will you stay here at the house until I get back? It could be days, however long it takes to find her." Buffy said pacing her living room.
"I will. She's fine, Buffy, just going through that ole teenage rebellion stuff. I mean who wouldn't want to run away." Xander said.
"I know. I did but I'm the Slayer, Xander. I could take care of myself. Dawn is just my little sister. There's no way she can handle the big bad world out there." Buffy said. She started throwing things in a suitcase. She didn't know how long she was going to be gone and she was seeing Angel. God could this situation get any more stressful. She was only seeing Angel in the capacity that he could help her locate Dawn, she reminded herself. She zipped the suitcase up and begin to haul it out to her Mom's Jeep Cherokee.
"Ok, I'll call when I get there and if you hear anything about Dawn call me. You have Angel's hotel number, his cell number and my cell number, right?" Buffy asked Xander this question for the fifth time.
"I've got them all. Anya knows Dawn is missing. She may not like me but if Dawn comes in the magic shop she'll let me know." Xander said.
"Thanks Xand." Buffy said giving him a brief hug and kiss on the cheek. "I'm LA bound then."
"Drive careful and all that stuff. Tell Deadboy I didn't say Hi." Xander waved as she pulled out of the driveway.
Buffy turned the radio up, hoping to distract herself from any thinking of any sort. She'd resorted to asking Angel for his help. Dawn wasn't just grounded when she found her. She was going to kill her, provided she was found alive in the first place.
*
Dawn stretched. She was beginning to heal. She had a ways to go yet. Her body was still one ugly bruise and she didn't even want to look at her face. That worked out well because Spike had no mirrors in the basement. Spike had run to the video store. He was supposed to be bringing back lots of fluffy chick flicks. He'd protested arguing that there was a limit to the torture a person, or non person, could take. Dawn had played the sick person card again and he'd left growling and snarking about chick flicks.
Spike returned in a little while with a bag full of DVD's and a DVD player tucked under his arm. Dawn clapped her hands like a little girl.
"Did you get them?" She asked.
"Yeah, I bloody got every single one. The clerk at the video store hit on me. He thought I was gay renting all the friggin chick flicks." Spike grumbled. Dawn giggled. "I got a bag of cheese popcorn too." He dug the bag out and tossed it to Dawn. It was the prepackaged already popped kind. She opened it and munched on the popcorn as Spike hooked up the DVD player.
"Where'd you get the player?" Dawn asked.
"Little electronics store on Main." Spike answered.
"So you bought it?" Dawn said.
"Yup, right and proper, paid cash-oh alright I stole it but they over charge you for these things anyway." Spike admitted.
Dawn grinned and stuffed another handful of cheese popcorn in her mouth.
"Which one first, Niblet?" Spike asked.
"Hmmm, Kate and Leopold." Dawn decided. "You did get that one, right?'
"Yes, yes I got that one." Spike promised and took the correct case out of the bag. He put the movie in and flopped down on the bed next to Dawn.
"Ow, ow, ow." Dawn said.
"Sorry, Niblet. Didn't think about it." Spike said.
Dawn snuggled her head against Spike's shoulder. He draped his arm over her shoulders and played with the ends of her hair. They'd washed the blood out of it earlier and it laid soft and shiny brown down her back.
Dawn sniffled into his chest. She swiped at the tears that rolled down her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Isn't it romantic? She was supposed to be there. He loved her so much it altered history and time."
Spike tilted Dawn's face up to his. He carefully wiped away a tear making its way down her cheek. He leaned in close to her. She caught her breath. He took an unneeded breath and held it for a moment. He let it out and smiled. "The most bleedin romantic thing I've ever seen. Which movie next?" He nearly leapt out of the bed. Nervous energy propelled him across the room. He needed a drink and a smoke. He grumbled to himself. He really needed a shag. There was a little brunette chippy down near the docks, maybe he could get her to dress-. He shook his head to chase those thoughts away.
By the time they'd watched Kate and Leopold, The Princess Bride, and Return to Me, Dawn had sobbed herself to sleep. Spike would never get it. Why do women always want to watch things that make them weepy? He was sorely tempted to sleep right there in the bed with Dawn's little body curled up next to his but he knew it wasn't right or proper so he wiggled out from underneath Dawn's body and went to sleep on the uncomfortable narrow couch.
Dawn sat up slowly. Everything ached and her head felt like it was going to explode. She looked around the basement apartment and couldn't see any sign of Spike. She slid slowly to the edge of the bed and tried to stand up. Pain lanced through her ankle the moment she put weight on it.
"Ok, so going to look for Spike isn't an option." Dawn said to the empty room. She scooted back in the bed and lay down. She was going to have to ask Spike to bring the television down here. There were a couple of books on the nightstand but her head hurt too much to concentrate on little words.
She heard the crypt door open. Spike really should do something about that awful squeal it made. The trap door slid open and Spike jumped down holding two brown paper grocery bags. Dawn's stomach rumbled. She had realized she was hungry until she saw the bags of food.
"How you feeling, Niblet?" Spike asked as he took the bags over to the small kitchenette. He put milk, hot pockets, pot pies, chicken nuggets and a bottle of ranch dressing in the fridge. Microwaveable ramen noodles and other dry things went in the cabinets.
"Everything hurts. My entire body is one big bruise. I feel just ducky." Dawn grumbled.
"Goin to take a while to heal, even with the almost slayer package." Spike said as he fixed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her. He pulled a paper towel off the roll he'd bought and plopped the sandwich in the middle of it. He poured milk into a mostly clean glass.
"Thanks," Dawn said taking the sandwich and the milk.
"You know, I talked to Buffy earlier. She thinks you've run away. She's worried sick, Niblet." Spike said sinking into a chair he'd drug close to the bed. He stretched his legs out in front of him and toed off his boots.
"Did you tell her anything?" Dawn asked.
"No, but I'm hanging my ass out for you here." Spike grumbled. How was it Summers women could make him do anything they wanted him too, oh sure he grumbled and groused about it but in the end he did exactly what they wanted him to. He glanced up at Dawn. It was that Summers mouth, so damned expressive and those lips, perfect for pouting or kissing. He grumbled to himself. He was not thinking about kissing Dawn. He drug his eyes away from her mouth and up to her eyes.
"I know Spike and I appreciate it. If Buffy found out about the things I can do, I'd never hear the end of it. She'd move me in with Dad for sure, just to get me off the Hellmouth. I've never even met him; you know that, at least not really because I didn't exist when he was around. I thought he'd come for Buffy's funeral because at least he knew her. I mean she is, was, his daughter. He sent a really pretty spray of flowers. He said he was in Spain on business at the time. "Dawn rambled and picked at her sandwich.
"Don't let him bother you, Niblet. He's a wanker and not worth your time." Spike said.
"Is this the part where you tell me it's his loss?" Dawn said sarcastically. She'd heard this speech from Buffy, Willow and Xander.
"Well it is. Both his daughters have grown into amazing women. If he had a brain in his bleedin head he'd be shoutin it to the rooftops."
She smiled. Somehow, it sounded better coming from Spike.
"I've been thinking, why does a crypt need a basement? Especially a basement with a fireplace." Dawn asked.
"Crypt was here first. Sunnydale was a hot spot during prohibition, not surprising really. Because of that mob activity was pretty high here. I figure a bootlegger or mobster, maybe both, had this built as a hideout. He didn't want to rough it and it gets cold down here sometimes hence the fireplace. Tunnels lead all over Sunnydale from here. Bloke doesn't have to worry about being caught down here if it comes to making a quick escape." Spike explained.
"That's cool. You make history so much more interesting then Mr. Heanin." Dawn said.
Spike shrugged. "Lived a good deal of it."
"You could be a history teacher." Dawn said.
"The bursting into flames thing might be a hindrance, Dawnie. Not to mention evil, remember." Spike said.
"I'm bored." Dawn said.
Spike chuckled. "Can't really take you out on the town with Big Sis conducting the big search."
"So what do you do in here during the day?" Dawn asked.
Spike shrugged. "Watch the soaps and game shows. I read a little bit. I used to be a poet you know, bloody awful one but a poet none the less."
"So read me one of your poems." Dawn said.
Spike muttered. "Did you miss where I said I was bloody awful?"
"I'm subjected to poetry by the entire senior class in lit. You can't be that bad. Come on, I'm sick. You have to do what the sick person wants." Dawn said.
Spike grumbled again. "Alright, let me think, been a long time since I've recited poetry to anyone."
Dawn finished her sandwich and milk while Spike "thought." She sat up straighter and tucked the blankets around her legs.
He cleared his throat and stood up. "Lips on lips/soft, sweet, red/intoxicating like old wine. Hands caressing skin/like sculptor and masterpiece/breath coming fast, wet, hot/Tumultuous desire toppling/ Man and woman entwined in embrace/entranced with love, eyes blind/focused on the promise of tomorrows." Spike executed a very fancy bow and sat back down with a grin.
Dawn applauded. "Ok, way better then Brett Starksy and he got his published in the school paper."
Spike chuckled. "Good to know I can out poet a seventeen year old."
"You wrote that one?" Dawn asked.
Spike nodded. "Sometime in the late nineteenth century. I think we were in Italy. I'd just eaten two lovers in the park and was inspired."
Dawn wrinkled her nose. That was more information then she needed to know about the inspiration of the poem. She cocked her head and looked at Spike, even sitting innocently in a chair barefoot he carried a dangerous edge. It lingered on him, like cologne. "Do you miss it? Eating people?"
"I used to, not so much anymore. I've gotten used to helping the white hats, drinking pig's blood. It's not as bad as I thought it would be." Spike admitted.
"So is it more fun to be on the good side or the evil side?" Dawn asked.
"More fun, definitely the evil side, no worries there, no self sacrificing it's all about fun and what feels good. The good side is filled with self sacrifice and doing what's right even though it hurts like bloody hell. It's funny though; doing the evil stuff it's like pitching dirt in a bottomless grave. The more dirt you throw in the emptier it seems. There's never enough to chase that hollow feeling away. When the fun's over you have to rush 'round like mad to replace it with more fun, to keep that hollow feeling away. Doing good on the other hand, even a little bit of it fills that bottomless grave right up." Spike snorted and stood up. "Bloody hell, I'm beginning to sound like a knight in bleedin shinin armor."
Dawn giggled. "Well you did save me and I think you're right. I mean it sounds good. You know, I've been thinking about this for awhile and I've got a theory about you."
"About me? Inspired lots of things in my time, I'm sure but never a theory. Alright, so tell me." Spike sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Okay so it goes like this. You used to be evil, like really evil-"
"Hello, still evil here." Spike interrupted.
"Do you want to hear my theory or not?" Dawn said.
"Alright, I'll be quiet. Go on." Spike relented.
"Ok so anyway, you used to be evil but since you've come to Sunnydale you've started changed, maybe evolving into something better. It started with you helping Buffy stop Angel from sucking the world into hell-"
"Just did that because I liked having all the happy meals on legs around." Spike defended himself.
Dawn glared at him but continued. "And then there was when you left town after kidnapping Willow and Xander, without killing them. And you didn't kill Buffy when you got the gem of Amara-"
"I tried and I went to LA and tortured Angel good and proper." Spike said indignantly.
"Well, yah but he was your Sire and isn't torture just like a vampires way of showing sibling rivalry?" Dawn said.
Spike grumbled. Girl had a point. "Go on, or is that the end of your theory?'
"No. Anyway, then you got chipped and I know at first it was the chip that had you not doing evil things and you kind of had a back slide after the chip. I mean you helped Adam but you know I think it was one of those things. You know when someone tells you not to do something; the first thing you go out and do is what they said not to. The chip was telling you not to be evil, so naturally the first thing you wanted to do was be evil and prove you hadn't lost your Big Bad status."
"I haven't." Spike protested again.
Dawn shot him another look. "But then you started doing good things and helping Buffy and I don't think it had anything to do with the chip. It could have to do with you having a crush on Buffy."
"I do not!" Spike exclaimed.
"Spike, give it up. You stalked her long before I got my powers. Everyone knows you have a crush on Buffy." Dawn said.
Spike grumbled and groused under his breath. "Alright, fine. I've got a crush on the Slayer. I know it's never going to come of anything though. She loves the big pouf. That's never going to change. The type of thing they have doesn't. They'll be old and gray and wrinkled, or she will, and they'll still be bleedin crazy for each other. So yeah, I have a crush on the Slayer. I also have a crush on Selma Hayek. I have as much of a chance with her as I do with Buffy."
"So in short, my theory is that you're becoming good. Eventually you'll be as good as Angel." Dawn finished.
"Oh bollocks no, I don't have a soul, Dawnie. You can't just get a soul. I'd have to be cursed like Peaches and there's that nasty bit of no nookie, no thanks. I can't be good without a soul, Niblet." Spike said.
Dawn sighed. "Some people argue that dogs don't have souls either, and they're good."
"Oh bloody fantastic. I think I liked it better when you were comparing me to Angel instead of a dog." Spike said.
*
"Okay, I'm going to LA. I'm hoping Angel can help me some of his contacts there. I can't just sit around and wait for the Sunnydale Police. We know how great they are. Xander, will you stay here at the house until I get back? It could be days, however long it takes to find her." Buffy said pacing her living room.
"I will. She's fine, Buffy, just going through that ole teenage rebellion stuff. I mean who wouldn't want to run away." Xander said.
"I know. I did but I'm the Slayer, Xander. I could take care of myself. Dawn is just my little sister. There's no way she can handle the big bad world out there." Buffy said. She started throwing things in a suitcase. She didn't know how long she was going to be gone and she was seeing Angel. God could this situation get any more stressful. She was only seeing Angel in the capacity that he could help her locate Dawn, she reminded herself. She zipped the suitcase up and begin to haul it out to her Mom's Jeep Cherokee.
"Ok, I'll call when I get there and if you hear anything about Dawn call me. You have Angel's hotel number, his cell number and my cell number, right?" Buffy asked Xander this question for the fifth time.
"I've got them all. Anya knows Dawn is missing. She may not like me but if Dawn comes in the magic shop she'll let me know." Xander said.
"Thanks Xand." Buffy said giving him a brief hug and kiss on the cheek. "I'm LA bound then."
"Drive careful and all that stuff. Tell Deadboy I didn't say Hi." Xander waved as she pulled out of the driveway.
Buffy turned the radio up, hoping to distract herself from any thinking of any sort. She'd resorted to asking Angel for his help. Dawn wasn't just grounded when she found her. She was going to kill her, provided she was found alive in the first place.
*
Dawn stretched. She was beginning to heal. She had a ways to go yet. Her body was still one ugly bruise and she didn't even want to look at her face. That worked out well because Spike had no mirrors in the basement. Spike had run to the video store. He was supposed to be bringing back lots of fluffy chick flicks. He'd protested arguing that there was a limit to the torture a person, or non person, could take. Dawn had played the sick person card again and he'd left growling and snarking about chick flicks.
Spike returned in a little while with a bag full of DVD's and a DVD player tucked under his arm. Dawn clapped her hands like a little girl.
"Did you get them?" She asked.
"Yeah, I bloody got every single one. The clerk at the video store hit on me. He thought I was gay renting all the friggin chick flicks." Spike grumbled. Dawn giggled. "I got a bag of cheese popcorn too." He dug the bag out and tossed it to Dawn. It was the prepackaged already popped kind. She opened it and munched on the popcorn as Spike hooked up the DVD player.
"Where'd you get the player?" Dawn asked.
"Little electronics store on Main." Spike answered.
"So you bought it?" Dawn said.
"Yup, right and proper, paid cash-oh alright I stole it but they over charge you for these things anyway." Spike admitted.
Dawn grinned and stuffed another handful of cheese popcorn in her mouth.
"Which one first, Niblet?" Spike asked.
"Hmmm, Kate and Leopold." Dawn decided. "You did get that one, right?'
"Yes, yes I got that one." Spike promised and took the correct case out of the bag. He put the movie in and flopped down on the bed next to Dawn.
"Ow, ow, ow." Dawn said.
"Sorry, Niblet. Didn't think about it." Spike said.
Dawn snuggled her head against Spike's shoulder. He draped his arm over her shoulders and played with the ends of her hair. They'd washed the blood out of it earlier and it laid soft and shiny brown down her back.
Dawn sniffled into his chest. She swiped at the tears that rolled down her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Isn't it romantic? She was supposed to be there. He loved her so much it altered history and time."
Spike tilted Dawn's face up to his. He carefully wiped away a tear making its way down her cheek. He leaned in close to her. She caught her breath. He took an unneeded breath and held it for a moment. He let it out and smiled. "The most bleedin romantic thing I've ever seen. Which movie next?" He nearly leapt out of the bed. Nervous energy propelled him across the room. He needed a drink and a smoke. He grumbled to himself. He really needed a shag. There was a little brunette chippy down near the docks, maybe he could get her to dress-. He shook his head to chase those thoughts away.
By the time they'd watched Kate and Leopold, The Princess Bride, and Return to Me, Dawn had sobbed herself to sleep. Spike would never get it. Why do women always want to watch things that make them weepy? He was sorely tempted to sleep right there in the bed with Dawn's little body curled up next to his but he knew it wasn't right or proper so he wiggled out from underneath Dawn's body and went to sleep on the uncomfortable narrow couch.