Severed Ties
Chapter 9
Feels Like Home to Me
Sunnydale
May 18th, 2002
3:29 p.m.
"I'll get it," Dawn yelled to the three inhabitants in the living room.
"You're just trying to get out of putting the banner up," Willow called back.
"And it worked like a charm," the brunette muttered with a smirk before picking up the cordless from its base in the hall. "Summers residence."
"My aren't we uppity today," the familiar voice said. Dawn shivered from the sexuality that dripped from the tone.
"Well," she replied and desperately attempted to don the patented tone of teenage indifference. "Speak of the devil and he will appear."
"So, you were thinking about me." It was not a question.
"How do you figure?"
"Weeell, you did just say 'speak of the…"
"I know what I said, smart ass," Dawn retorted, knowing she was beaten.
"Touchy, Touchy." Dawn heard the smugness of the caller's voice and wanted nothing more than to…
"What did you say?" She demanded.
"I asked if it was, you know, that time of the…"
"If you even think about finishing that sentence, C.J., I will so kick your ass-"
"Dawn," Giles said, poking his head out in the hall. "Whose on the phone."
"Uh…Janice!" The teen replied a bit too eagerly and she crossed her fingers when she saw the fatherly scowl she had received from Giles much too often.
"I see," he said and the Key knew he was totally unconvinced. "Well tell, Janice that we will be needing your assistance with the rest of the decorations. Buffy and Spike will be back from the hospital within the hour."
"Uh, sure, yeah," she sputtered, nodding extra-emphatically. "We just have to talk about--her summer school assignment. I'll be there in two shakes," she finished and 'shooed' Giles away, much to his bemusement.
"Teenagers," the Brit muttered to himself before walking back into the living room.
"Old British Guy on ya again?" C.J. asked sympathetically.
"You can say that."
"So big sis is coming home today," C.J. said, changing the subject.
"Yep," Dawn said and her voice perked up instantly. "Bout damn time, too."
"Uh, sweetie, she was in a coma."
"Yeah, I know," Dawn replied. She was torn between sadness and excitement. The former was the pain in remembering how it felt to almost lose Buffy again and the latter--"Did you just call me 'sweetie'?"
"Did I?" C.J. asked nonplussed. They had been talking on the phone ever since the beach incident a few weeks back and not once in that time had he ever used such an affectionate term without a hint of teasing behind his words.
"That you did," the brunette replied, unable to hide her nervousness.
"Well I, uh…"
"Freudian slip?" She asked and could feel C.J. roll his eyes.
"Whatever, Kiddo."
"I am not a kid," she spat back.
"Sing me a new song, why don't ya." C.J. cooed and chuckled when Dawn sighed dramatically into the phone. "So, when do I get an invite?"
"C.J.," Dawn said as if talking to a child, "I already told you. Spike would kill you if he knew how old you are. Of course, on the cosmic scale I am about a zillion times older than you," she said with the last part being to herself.
"Huh?"
"Oh, nothing. And besides Spike, Buffy's getting back today and we don't even have to mention Faith."
"Let's not," C.J. agreed, shuddering as he remembered the very serious, and creative, threats Faith had thrown to him one night she had discovered the two on the phone. C.J. had to admit that Faith--well, she was one intimidating chick.
"You're scared? Of a girl?" Dawn teased and giggled when C.J. huffed into the receiver.
"Whatever, Dawnie," he retorted sarcastically and was rewarded by the annoying whine of buttons being depressed. "And you say you aren't a kid."
"Bite me, C.J."
"All I'm looking for is the chance, sweetheart." Dawn flushed at the seductive tone and took several deep breaths before she tried to speak.
"So, I'll talk to you later?" She said, pleased that her voice did not totally give away her dignity.
"Just give me a call, if you want. I know it's a big deal, havin' Buffy back. You guys may want to catch up."
Dawn snorted. "The only thing Buffy's going to be catching up on is boinking Spike."
"And thank you for the imagery," Faith said and Dawn squealed in surprise, nearly dropping the phone.
"Is that the big bully?" C.J. asked.
"Yeah, it's her," Dawn replied as she held a palm over her racing heart.
"Well, let me get off here before…"
"Is that C.J.?"
"…she asks to speak to me…"
"Let me speak to him."
"…and threatens me with any more bodily harm."
"Dawn! Give me the phone."
"Okay, C.J. Talk to you later, bubye." And before Faith could snatch it away, Dawn pressed the off button. "So, what's up?" She asked Faith cheerfully.
"You little biatch," Faith swore and crossed her arms, staring at her future Aunt scornfully. "You know I wanted to talk to him."
"Whatever," Dawn scoffed and walked towards the living room. "So you can tell him how you're gonna bugger him with his own wanker if he hurts me? Get the overprotection enough Faith without my niece getting in on the act."
"A niece who is seven years your elder," the blonde remarked.
"Look," Dawn said, her eyes imploring, "we're just friends, okay." On Faith's less than believing glare, Dawn sighed. "Okay, so maybe I have a tiny crush on him. It's not like we're dating anyway."
"Remember, Dawn, it's me you're talking to; the same person who you were with last week when we ran into him in the mall. It's not just a crush. Not for him and certainly not for you."
Dawn's eyes brightened at Faith's words and couldn't help but tumble the older woman's words back and forth.
"He—he likes me?" She whispered to Faith as if she were afraid the words would shatter the hope burgeoning in her chest.
Faith's once intent scowl melted into a gentle smile. "How could he not, Dawn? I mean, look at you. You're smart, witty and fun to be around—not to mention that you're becoming one hot chica." They both chuckled at that before Faith sobered up and tucked a stray lock of hair behind Dawn's ear.
"But you're only fifteen, Dawnie…"
"About to be sixteen."
"And he's—what? —Nineteen? Twenty?"
"When Buffy was my age, her boyfriend was two centuries older than her. What's the big about four years?"
Faith shrugged. "You got me there. Still, I don't want you to get hurt—"
"I know," Dawn conceded, "but I can't be protected all my life from things."
"Understood. Okay, here's the deal; I get to threaten C.J. one more time and you get to tell Buffy and Spike about him."
"Do I have to?" The teen whined.
"It's either that or they find out, ground you, then beat him down."
"Fine," Dawn grumbled and slunk back into the living room after Faith slung her arm around the teen's shoulders.
"It'll be okay, sweetie. You'll see."
"As if. You and I both know that Buffy's gonna hate this."
"No she won't," Faith replied, her voice lacking any conviction. Oh, she's gonna hate it, all right. She's gonna hate it big time.
May 18th, 2002
3:42 p.m.
"Correction, Spike," Buffy said as he wheeled her through the halls, "I don't hate this."
"You don't?"
"I loathe it," she growled, folding her arms across her chest.
"It'll be all right, luv," Spike said before he deposited a kiss to the back of her head. "We'll be to the car in no time and you'll be outta this soddin' thing."
"I feel like such an invalid."
"Preachin to the choir, luv." On her sarcastic look, he snorted derisively. "You know what I mean, luv. Remember a particularly stuck up bint dropping a bloody hefty organ on my back some time ago."
Buffy ducked her head at the memory of that night in the church. Even though she and Spike were mortal enemies then, Buffy couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt for putting Spike in that wheelchair for months. She shuddered at the passing thought of being trapped within your own body, unable to do for yourself and dependent on others for assistance. She wasn't sure that she could have done it, not without going insane. It was yet another example of the strength her lover possessed.
Spike laid a hand on Buffy's shoulder while the other continued pushing her forward. "Now, none of that, pet," he said, somehow knowing where her thoughts had led her. "You know very well that we were all with the mortal enemies bit then, no use feelin' guilty over it."
"How did you…"
"Know? Simple really," he said and turned the corner that led to the parking garage. "Feel guilty myself for some of the things we did—said to each other back then. Makes no sense, considering what we were to each other."
"Equals," Buffy said prophetically.
"That we were."
"Still are, bleach boy," she said before reaching behind her and pinching his thigh.
"Oy!"
"And don't you forget it."
"Trust me, Slayer, I won't." The double doors slid open as they reached the exit. The de Soto was conveniently parked by the doors, much to the chagrin of a few people in the garage. Ignoring several sarcastic comments sent his way, Spike helped Buffy to her feet and into the car, surprised at her lack of protests. He hustled the wheelchair back into the hospital and jogged back out, sliding over the hood of the car.
"You are a nut," Buffy said when he closed the driver's side door. "Do you know that? You are a grade-A nut."
"Coulda told you that, luv. Toothless vampire falls in love with his mortal enemy." He frowned. "Yep. William the Bloody; the epitome of nutcase."
"But I love my 'nutcase'," Buffy cooed and pulled Spike across the seat and towards her, their lips meeting in a searing kiss.
Their tongues moved in a familiar dance, a dichotomous war of dominance and submission as hands roamed indiscriminately under clothing and across flesh. It was too much yet not enough and both realized that a simple kiss, however potent, would not satiate the hunger that burned through their bodies, culminating in a needful ache in their lower extremities.
Spike pulled away, albeit reluctantly, and smiled at the whine elicited by the slayer.
"Now none of that, pet," he whispered. His lips traced her jaw line before descending on her jugular. Buffy groaned at the contact and grabbed the lapels of Spike's duster as her need to have him against her, inside her, nearly overwhelmed her.
"Buffy," Spike murmured against her flesh and she shuddered at the poetic beauty his voice gave to her name. Even when she had felt as if nothing else was right in the world a few months back, Spike whispering her name was like an adrenaline shot to the heart, giving her the desire to live for those precious few hours they shared together. Now, she wanted to live more than ever and yet craved him all the same.
"Buffy," Spike repeated when the slayer's deft fingers crawled down his chest and settled on the hem of his jeans. It took a will power he never knew he possessed to reach down and grasp Buffy's wrist and pull it away from his raging hard-on. "Come now, pet," he said, all the while taking deep, unnecessary breaths.
"God, Spike," she whined, "I need you so bad. Want you so bad."
The vampire groaned and bit his lip to hold back a sob of frustration. "Cor, luv. Want you more than anything…oh God," he gasped when she bit down on his neck. Spike let go of her wrist and his own hands roamed the small figure in front of him.
"Buffy," he pleaded, "not here, luv."
"But I need you, baby," she begged as her small hands massaged the bulge in the front of his pants.
"I need you, too, pet." He forced her hands away gently and looked her in the eyes. His resolve nearly crumbled when he saw the naked longing in her shimmering hazel jewels but steadied himself. "I need you more than ever right about now, but we're in the middle of bleedin' garage and, as much as I want you, I don't fancy Geriatric Joe over there finally getting a stiffy after a decade because he saw my woman's arse."
Buffy tried to give him the 'look' but Spike stuck his jaw out in determination. Seeing that he wasn't going to relent (and that, God help her, he was totally right), Buffy slouched in her seat, crossing her arms.
"Fine," she grunted.
Knowing that his control was razor thin, Spike put the de Soto in gear and peeled out of the parking lot, ignoring several guys who gave him thumbs up on the way out.
"Besides," he said after pulling onto the street, "you're probably knackered anyway."
"Whatever. You know we're gonna have to wait for awhile once we get home, don't you?"
"Bugger that. We'll give the Scoobs a few hours o' face time with you and then you'll play the tired routine. I wait a spell before followin' you up and then--voila--we shag like bunnies."
"You think?" She asked and a her lips twisted in the slightest smile.
"Trust me, luv," Spike said and patted Buffy's leg. "Just trust me."
May 18th, 2002
10:42 p.m.
" 'Trust me', he said," Buffy whispered fiercely into Spike's ear. Alone time for the couple had yet to be discovered since they had walked through the door. Spike had let Buffy enter the premises first, smiling as he watched her walk to the door. Earlier that day, they had decided to give Buffy a 'Welcome Home' party. The living room was decorated with store bought banners of Welcome Back, Glad you're feeling better, to the more creative ones of Sunnyhell missed you and Can't keep a good Slayer down. Buffy didn't see the decorations right away because, once through the door, she had been instantly bombarded by a gangle of feminine arms as Faith, Dawn, Willow and Tara enveloped her in a group hug. Tears were shed and the four had plopped down on the couch as Giles welcomed his slayer home. Spike had rushed in around that time, his blanket smoking and greeted the others. He had smiled inwardly to himself, counting the hours before he and Buffy could slip away from the prying eyes of family.
That was nearly seven hours ago. In that time, Buffy had been carted off with Giles and Faith for an hour, was subjected to Dawn's gossip and chatted in depth with Tara about the Wicca's back injury. Add the double movie feature and pizza party to the mix and one had a very frustrated vampire and slayer.
"Didn't know they were gonna stick to you like a bloody second skin," Spike muttered and was promptly shushed by Faith.
"This is the best part," she informed the blonde duo before turning back to the television.
"I'll say," Spike said and planted a quick kiss on Buffy's neck. Such stolen gestures by the platinum blonde were the only things that kept the slayer afloat. Even during their make-out session in the car, Buffy still felt the grogginess of taking a two-month nap and the emotional homecoming didn't help matters. She had trucked through the day, a tired energy pushing her forward and she had thought she would pass through the day unscathed. That is, of course, until Giles had taken her and Faith to the side to discuss the latter's dreams. When Buffy had asked the chat to be postponed until the next day, Giles had replied that he had a feeling that she at least hear it without the prying eyes of the others who knew about it already. Though she wasn't too happy with being pulled away from Spike, Buffy had listened as Faith told her mother about the slayer dreams and with each passing description, a sliver of ice climbed up Buffy's spine. Though she had not thought about the dreams she had had during the coma all day, Faith's words awakened the visions that had plagued Buffy.
It took a Herculean effort for Buffy not to break down into tears at the memory of the things she had seen. After they had finished, she had instantly retreated to Spike, kissing him flushly in front of the others before she suggested the movie night.
Spike knew something had upset Buffy but decided not to pry. So he had sat for the past three and a half hours with the love of his unlife curled against his side and endured the torture of having her so close yet unable to express his love towards her properly.
"That bone sword-slash-whip is kinda cool," Buffy said and stifled a giggle when Faith's shoulders tensed in excitement as the final conflict in Brotherhood of the Wolf reached its pinnacle.
"Wasn't talkin bout that, luv," Spike said and deftly squeezed her boob before his hand returned to its idle position on her left shoulder. Buffy surprised him by not jumping and he whispered in her ear, "Movie's almost over--and you know what that means?"
If the words were said by anyone else, Buffy would have dismissed them. But the way they rolled of Spike's tongue--she shivered at the sensuality of his tone and the promise it hinted out. Damn him, she thought. He could probably make eating tofu sound sexy. The slayer's body perked up as warm desire slowly started to build within her, erasing the bad memories of the earlier conversation with Giles and Faith as well as the residual sluggishness from inaction. Oh, she had enough energy to…
The buzz of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts and Buffy sighed.
"Who the bloody hell," Spike muttered and glared at the door when a knock disturbed the group.
"I wonder who that could be at this hour," Giles said.
"Maybe they have the wrong house," Willow offered and continued to stroke Tara's hair.
"Th-that could be," the blonde Wicca replied.
"Or," Dawn said and threw another kernel of popcorn in her mouth, "it could be a hoard of demons that want us dead yet have the decency to knock instead of bursting down the door and sending our homeowners insurance through the stratosphere."
"I'm so sure," Buffy replied sarcastically. Dawn's reply was to stick out her tongue and hurl a kernel at her big sister. Buffy caught it in her hand and popped the corn into her mouth before scowling triumphantly.
"Well," Faith said, motioning to get up, "only one way to find out."
"That's okay, 'let," Spike said and dislodged himself from Buffy's petite form. They both groaned at the loss of contact and everyone but Giles gave the blonde duo a bemused look. "I'll get it. Scare away the buggers."
"I'll help you," Buffy said eagerly and hopped off the couch. Spike offered her a smug smirk before she shooed him towards the door.
"No boinking in front of company," Dawn called to the retreating couple.
"Thank you Dawn for that reminder," Giles scoffed and removed his glasses. "As if a certain redhead's 'Thy will be done' spell didn't give me enough nightmares."
Willow ducked her head sheepishly. "That was a long time ago," she huffed before burying her head in the crook of Tara's neck.
"Just couldn't stand to be away from me, eh, luv?" Spike said and pulled Buffy close to him. His back was towards the living room, shielding them if prying eyes decided to investigate.
"You know I can't," Buffy replied and smiled when Spike's eyes widened in shock. "Didn't think I'd tell you the truth, did ya?"
"That I didn't, pet. But enough words. C'mere," he ordered and Buffy gasped as he crushed his lips to hers. His tongue invaded her mouth as his hands cupped her butt and it was all that she could do not to wrap her legs around his waist. Instead, she dropped her hands to the bulge that pressed intimately against her stomach and squeezed. Spike growled at the stimulation of her hands against his throbbing erection and Buffy smirked in satisfaction.
Spike broke away first and leaned his forehead against hers. The sound of her heartbeat was a soothing melody to him, matching her enchanting vanilla scent and goddess-like beauty. And the way she felt in his arms--Cor!
"That's cheating, you know," he told her as they both panted for breath.
"I remember you saying that before," she teased, "and you didn't mind it then, either."
"Yeah, and I bloody well kicked you out o' the crypt, too, didn't I?"
"Which was very mean, by the way." Spike sighed when Buffy's lips jutted out.
"Stop with the pouting, luv, 's really not fair."
"I'd hate to interrupt your little soiree," Giles called from the living room, "but it would be nice if you stopped whomever is outside from ringing the bloody doorbell."
The two blondes couldn't help but laugh at the watcher's exasperation and Spike's hand reached for the door.
"Guess we forgot the part about answering the door, huh?" Buffy asked as her hand covered his on the handle.
"Guess so. But considering I had you in my arms, 's understandable."
"Awww," Buffy cooed and kissed him on the cheek before she pulled back and scrutinized the blue eyes that gazed so lovingly back at her. "You aren't just trying to butter me up for later, are you?"
"Maybe," he said. "Gotta get all the time I can with you lest you come to your senses and get yourself a real bloke." Though his tone was joking, Buffy heard the serious undercurrent of his words.
He still thinks I'm gonna change my mind, she thought sadly and wondered if there was any way to convince him otherwise.
"Spike," she said and slid her arm around his hip, "you know I love you."
"For now," he muttered and opened the door.
Anger coursed through Buffy at Spike's flippant tone. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I love…" just as she was about the finish, the door flew open to reveal the last person she expected to see.
"…Angel?"
TBC…
Am I mean? Go ahead, say it. I know you think I am.