Cravings

Chapter Five

I'm terribly sorry for the long time it took me to update but I got some sort of penalty and was not allowed to post a new chapter till now. I didn't understand why ffnet removed one of my other storys (the reason) but...well it's done and now here's the new chapter of cravings. I hope you'll like it as much as the rest. I'm so thankful for all the kind reviews you all left; special thanks to AnononA. Your first review was all a writer in a foreign language could ever ask for. Thanks sooo much! You made me so happy!

There will be just one more chapter of this or maybe two if it will turn out so long that I have to break it in two. But I can assure you it will not take as long as the last time to update; promise! And there will be a lot of Spuffy talking and arguing and making up and kissing and...

...well, you'll see!

For now enjoy this new chapter.


It took Spike several days to recover completely from his injuries but eventually all the cuts and bruises in his face were healed and he could once again walk, talk and most importantly, fight like the master vampire he truly was.

He had seen neither Buffy nor any one of the Scoobies since the day of Joyce's funeral. Only Dawn had shown up again the day after she had visited him in his crypt at night. She had swung by after school and had stayed till he walked her home after sundown. Spike knew that the girl had not only dreaded to be alone but also that she'd still been mad at her sister. So he had tried to talk some sense into her and told her to get on well with Buffy. Hell, they were family after all.

'Must've gone well or the Bit would have been back complaining about the Slayer by now!' Spike thought as he walked through the cemetery towards Revello Drive. He wasn't going to visit the Summer's girls; he just wanted to make sure they're alright.

When Spike reached the front lawn of the house he searched in his pockets for a smoke and lighted one. Then he looked up to the house. Buffy's room was dark as well as Dawn's but he could see someone walking through the living room towards the kitchen. 'Not as thin as the Bit but taller than Buffy. Red? Or Glinda?' Spike wondered when he heard someone coming up the lawn behind him. He turned around quickly.

"Red?"

"Huh, ugh. Spike!" the witch stammered surprised. "I…ugh, what…I didn't… see you! Uh, hi!"

Spike could tell that Willow was uneasy by her blushing and looking down at the paper bag she was carrying. Was it just him she was uncomfortable with or had something bad happened?

Before he knew he heard himself ask:

"Everything alright?"

"Ugh, yeah, everything's fine. I mean, not… ugh, what…" Willow stuttered, "what are you doing here, Spike?"

"No need to worry, Red!" Spike told her, "Just passing by. You know I can't go inside anymore. You've seen to that, haven't you?"

"Yeah, well," Willow became even more nervous if possible, "I'm sorry about that. No, I mean, I'm not sorry, but…ugh. You see, Buffy asked me to… and she told me…"

"Oh, bollocks, spare me, Red. I'm sure I know every-bloody-thing she told you about…" Spike stopped embarrassed and threw his fag to the ground. He took an unneeded breath and continued:

"Look, Red. Buffy doesn't want me around, or she thinks for now she doesn't, okay, fine. I can live with that. But soon enough she's gonna change her mind or…" Spike frowned, "she already bloody did, but…"

"Huh?" Willow interrupted confused. "What are you talking about, Spike?"

"Nothing!" Spike replied quickly and defensively. "I just came by to look if the Slayer and the Lil'Bit were getting along well again after their little quarrel. Oh, and by the way," Spike suddenly remembered something, "you, Red, should really know bloody better than to let the kid mess with the dark stuff!"

"Huh? Spike, what…"

Spike took a step towards the baffled witch and glared at her. "You know bloody well what I'm talking about here! Egg on the Nibblet to mess with the dark arts? To bring her mom back? If I didn't have this soddin' chip inside my head, I would…"

Willow stepped back involuntarily. "I didn't… I thought…"

"Guess you didn't think at all, did you?"

"I…hey, how do you know about that anyhow?" Willow wanted to know.

"Caught the bit red-handed, that's how! She was at the cemetery, big dark magic spell book with her…"

"Oh god!" Willow gasped, "I'm so sorry. But you caught her in time?"

"I…" Spike broke of. Had that really been a 'sorry'? A Scooby apologizing to him; that threw him completely. He relented: "Well, I caught her before she could start anything. She came hiding in my crypt after Buffy nearly caught her on patrol and… I guessed what she was bloody about to try and then she started crying and…" Spike caught himself and looked sheepishly to the ground. "Well, nothing's happened, okay? No harm no foul!"

"Thanks Spike!" the witch sighed relieved. Then she added:

"Ugh, that was probably my first apology to you ever, huh?"

She caught the surprised and speechless look on the vampire's face and added: "Well, and from the dumb look on your face I'm judging you're gonna need some time digesting that, too."

Spike didn't know what to say. The surprises kept coming and coming this week; that's for sure. First there'd been the 'thing' with Buffy crawling all over him, letting him comfort her. Then the Nibblet had been crying on his shoulder like he was some kind of best friend and now Red started to apologize…

'Bloody hell, does anybody even remember that I'm evil?' Spike thought. Not that he complained but…

"Hey Willow, Spike! What are you doing out there?"

Spike's thoughts were interrupted by Dawn's call from the front door. The teen had been watching them from inside the house for a while before she'd decided to interrupt whatever serious talk they'd been having.

"Ugh, nothing, Dawnie. Just, you know, talking." Willow ensured quickly.

"Yeah, so why don't you two come in and talk in the house. We…"

"No!" Willow shouted all of a sudden.

"Why not?" Dawn wondered, "The popcorn's ready and the DVD-player's waiting for the movie. You did bring the movie, didn't you?"

"No… I mean, yeah, I brought the disc but… we can't…. Spike can't…"

"What?" the girl inquired.

The vampire watched Willow squirm about and smirked. He knew what had gotten the Wicca's knickers in a twist all of a sudden. Dawn had said 'come in'. That meant he had an invite to the house again. So what? He knew he wouldn't go inside because Buffy would throw him out again instantly. But it was fun watching Willow blush and squirm about nevertheless. So he turned towards the witch and smirked:

"Yeah, Red. What is it I can't?"

Willow threw a punctured glance at him. "You know Buffy doesn't want you in the house, Spike. That's what I did the disinvite for. And if you…"

"You did what?" Dawn interrupted, "You disinvited him?" She glared at Willow furiously.

Spike looked at the thrown girl and decided to jump in for the witch.

"It's okay, Nibblet. Your sis doesn't want me in the house and…"

"And what about me? You're my friend, Spike. I want you around!" Dawn threw back at him.

"Look, Dawnie," Willow tried to intervene.

"No! Spike is my friend and you can't shut him out." Dawn answered determined. "This is my house, too and I want him around and you don't get a say in this. And Buffy can't do anything about it because she's gone away right now." Dawn's gaze turned from Willow to Spike. "So you're coming in!"

"Buffy's gone?" the vampire wondered alarmed. What was going on here? Why did the Slayer take off and leave her sister all alone so shortly after everything that had happened? And with that Glory chick still looking around for the key? "What do you mean she's gone?" he asked aloud.

"Buffy's gone on some 'Slayer-Watcher-vision-quest' with Giles." Willow explained. "They went to a sacred place somewhere in the desert today. We don't know when they will be back." She put on her resolve-face and added: "But that's got nothing to do with you. We're doing fine here. Tara and I are staying here tonight to look after Dawn and Xander and Anya are doing the patrolling. So you see we're all covered. We don't need you around, Spike!"

"Oh, yeah. Right," Spike said determined, "and what are you gonna do if that hell bitch is showing up? You're gonna mojo her into a bunny or what?"

"No," Willow said defensively, "if you must know Tara and I are working on a powerful spell against Glory. We will be able to…"

"You wouldn't even notice the chick and her minions till they were right in front of you! And while you're still trying to mutter your spell the bitch would knock you out and take the Lil'Bit with her. I won't let that happen so I'm coming in and staying with you girls."

Willow looked into the vampire's face and saw nothing but determination and concern. And that minute she knew for sure that Spike cared about Dawn like he'd cared about Joyce and he probably did about Buffy as well. He would do anything in his power to protect Dawn.

Willow's resolve had already crumbled but it did furthermore when her gaze traveled to Dawn and she saw the look of joy and, yes, admiration the girl threw at the vampire. Buffy had been right, the teen had obviously a big crush on Spike. But what girl at the age of fifteen wouldn't crush on a cool and kind of good-looking protector like this?

What? She was gay, okay, but that didn't mean she'd close her eye to a cute guy, right? Even if he was evil. Well, kind of.

The redhead sighed. She knew that if Glory would really show up they would get into big trouble. The teleportation spell they had used last time to get rid of Glory was far too dangerous to try again and other than that she had to admit they had nothing really good in store. Spike would be a big help after all.

"Okay, Spike," she relented finally, "you can come in. But Buffy will be terribly mad at me for letting you stay." With that she started to walk back to the front door. Dawn followed smiling contently and left a stunned Spike at the steps.

He had never thought the witch would give up her resolve that quickly. But, well…

"Hello bloody gift horse; I'm not gonna look into your mouth that's for sure!" he muttered and followed the two girls over the threshold.

When he entered the living room Dawn was already busy putting a disc into the DVD player. He looked around. A large bowl of self-made popcorn was placed on the couch table along with three glasses filled with some sort of juice. The witches were nowhere to be seen but Spike could hear them talking in the kitchen.

Suddenly Willow shouted over: "Spike, do you want something to drink? Juice? Blood?"

"No, I'm good, Red. Thanks though."

"Sure? There's even some beer Xander left somewhere in the fridge. I could…"

"No, I'm fine!"

"Okay." Willow answered and entered the living room with a bowl of chips in her arm.

Seemed that Tara had nothing to object to Spike's presence because when the blond witch followed her girlfriend into the living room she gave him a shy but warm smile and sat down on the couch next to Willow. Dawn had seated herself on a big and comfy cushion in front of the TV and looked now at him expectantly.

"So, Spike," she grinned with an evil glint in her eyes, "sit down and get ready for a night full of good old mushy-squashy romantic girly love stories. You're up to it?"

Spike, who had started to shrug his duster off his shoulders, straightened out and pulled it up again.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh come on, Spike," Willow chirped, "don't tell me the Big Bad is scared of a romantic movie."

Spike groaned and plopped down into the armchair. He knew there'd be a catch!

"Perhaps you can even learn something here," Tara added with a mischievous smile.

"Oh bloody hell," the vampire sighed, "Red, what did you say about beer earlier? I think I could use one now!" 'Or perhaps ten,' Spike thought and braced himself for hours of torture.

'Bloody hell, who am I kidding? Perhaps Glinda is right and I can pick up a few pointers. If Buffy finds out about this I'm gonna need all my charms not to get staked anyway. So, what the hell?'


TBC

Just one or two more chapters to go. Your chances to review are getting smaller so do it now and make me happy!