Back inside the ship, Jet was watching from a distance as Spike trembled and continued breathing heavily as if he had just ran a marathon. He walked up to his hysterical friend and stood at his side. He sat doubled over with both of his hands grasping large amounts of his hair, clutching them tight enough to turn his knuckles white. Jet didn't know how to break the ice until Spike spoke.
"What…what just happened?" he panted heavily. Jet could see his eyes were opened as wide as they could go.
"Spike, are you alright?" Jet asked as he leaned over and put his hand on his back. By this time, Spike's face was drenched in sweat.
"What just happened Jet? What did I do?" Spike asked as if he was a scared child. Jet didn't know how to explain it other than just coming out and saying it.
"Alex was invited out to dinner with a male friend of hers and you just flipped out on her." he said slowly and calmly. His eyes darted around as if trying to recall the events.
"What did I do to her?" he asked becoming even more upset. Jet swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
"When you saw her talking to him, you just stopped dead as if you saw a ghost. Then after she went into your bedroom and came out, you questioned her but then resorted to screaming." He said. With each detail, Spike became more and more distraught, breathing heavier and shaking more. "You grabbed her by her wrists and squeezed hard enough to hurt her. When she told you that you were hurting her, you just loosened your grip and started acting like this." It was silent for a moment before Jet heard a dripping noise. He looked down and saw the tears streaming from Spike's eyes.
"God, why did I do that? What happened?" he said sadly. He wasn't sobbing, his tone was full of sorrow and anger at himself for what he had done. He let loose the grip on his hair and used his hands to hold his head up. With an elbow on each knee, his hands cradled his forehead as his tears continued to spill onto the floor. His breathing had slowed, but he was still shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"Spike, calm down. Just apologize to her when she comes home. Tell her you overreacted and you're sorry. Everything'll be alright after you two talk." He said to calm his comrade. With a deep breath, Spike nodded and sat up and leaned back onto the couch. His face was soaked with sweat and tears so he looked for something to wipe his face. Jet sat beside him on the couch and pulled Spike's handkerchief out of his pocket for him and handed it to him. He wiped his face and blew his nose before tossing it down onto the table. He sat silent for a few moments, gathering his thoughts. Jet placed his hand on Spike's shoulder. "You'll be alright." He said as he stood and walked away leaving Spike on the couch by himself. After a moment, Spike got up and went into his old bedroom and came back out with his guitar. He sat back down on the couch, kicked off his boots, and just sat and played for a while, thinking of how to make everything right again.
At the same time, Alex had picked herself up off the dock and straightened herself up before walking into the town. She wandered from dress shop to dress shop looking for the perfect dress. The whole time she looked, she thought about what happened before she left. She looked at dresses and tried to pick something out that Spike would also like. She went into the fourth store and started browsing around. She looked around in there for about half an hour until she came across a long black dress that seemed almost too small for her. She took it to a dressing room and tried it on. It was skintight and was very revealing. The neckline dipped down almost to her stomach but stopped just short of the bottom of her ribcage. It wrapped around her breasts and the rest of her body like a second skin. The slit on the left side came just over half way up her thigh and the straps were very thin. The back dipped down to her lower back and came to a 'V' point. It was a soft material, a solid black. She looked at the price tag so she could get an idea of how much she'd be able to spend on other things she'd need like shoes and a shawl. She quickly changed back to her regular clothes and returned to the store to look for something for her shoulders. She came across a mesh-like material shoulder wrap for cheap, so she took that. She paid for the dress and shawl and headed for the shoe store. She found a pair of black stilettos that were surprisingly comfortable so she bought them and a pair of stockings that covered her foot enough to wear the shoe comfortably and not be seen. By this time, she had been gone from the ship about 3 hours and was ready to head back. She hoped that Spike had calmed down by now. She took her time walking back to the ship, window-shopping the whole way. She stopped for a quick bite to eat at a little café since her stomach was growling and she wasn't eager to get back to the ship. After she had finished, she decided it was time to head back and bite the bullet. She figured it was getting late anyway and she had to get ready soon. She finally reached the docks and walked out to the ship. She heard a guitar playing up on the deck, so she decided just to go in the door that was right there. It opened and she walked in. Her footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as she emerged into the living area. Neither Spike, nor Jet were anywhere to be seen, so she just went into their bedroom to put the dress away for after she showered. It was about 4 in the afternoon by now and she decided that she'd work on cleaning up the Pegasus. She walked up into the hangar and saw that the door to the deck was wide open. She looked out and saw Spike sitting out on the edge, strumming his guitar. She wasn't sure if he had calmed down or not, so she just walked over to the rusted craft she had just gotten and started pulling the weeds and junk out of the landing gear. As all of the stuff began to crumble to the ground, the sound echoed out of the ship, reaching Spike's ears. He turned and looked and saw piles of dirt around the front landing gear and heard the sound of someone walking around on the top of the Pegasus. He picked up his amp and guitar and decided it would be a good idea to apologize now while she was right there. He walked into the hangar and as his eyes adjusted, he saw her messing around with the cockpit dome. He set the instrument and amp down on the floor just inside the doorway with a clunk, which caused Alex to look up. She saw him standing there watching her and then went back to working around the cockpit.
"Alex." He spoke softly. She had a wrench in her hand and was loosening the dome from the body as he spoke.
"What?" she asked as she continued working, sounding as if he was bothering her. Spike knew she was mad at him and didn't want to talk to him after what he did, which made him even more nervous to talk to her. He took a deep breath and spoke as she worked facing away from him.
"I'm sorry…about today," he said slowly, as if choking on the words. She stopped what she was doing and listened without turning and looking at him. "I didn't know what I was doing until after I did it. I guess I did it because I thought I saw Vicious. I'm sorry if I hurt you and I hope you forgive me." The silence that followed was deafening. Spike dropped his eyes to the floor; maybe she wasn't going to forgive him after all. Suddenly there was a soft thud and he looked up to see Alex standing next to the Pegasus with the wrench still in her hand, but she looked as if she was about to cry. He took an uneasy step towards her and she did the same. When they both realized they had each been forgiven, Alex dropped the wrench and ran into Spike's arms as he ran for hers. The tears poured down both their cheeks as they held each other close. She buried her face into his shoulder and he buried his into her sweet-smelling hair.
"I love you Spike, please don't be mad at me." She cried.
"Alex, I could never be mad at you. I love you too much. I could never live with myself if something like this happened again." he said with a sniffle. They just stood holding each other for a little while, realizing how blessed they were to have one another.
"Are you alright now Spike?" Alex asked him as she let go and pulled away. He kissed her forehead and then managed a shaky smile.
"I think so."
"I've never seen you cry. I guess that means something." She said as she kissed his cheek.
"Yea, it means we were meant for each other." He said as he kissed her deeply, taking her breath away. Their salty tears tried to ruin the moment, but they just couldn't.
"What…what just happened?" he panted heavily. Jet could see his eyes were opened as wide as they could go.
"Spike, are you alright?" Jet asked as he leaned over and put his hand on his back. By this time, Spike's face was drenched in sweat.
"What just happened Jet? What did I do?" Spike asked as if he was a scared child. Jet didn't know how to explain it other than just coming out and saying it.
"Alex was invited out to dinner with a male friend of hers and you just flipped out on her." he said slowly and calmly. His eyes darted around as if trying to recall the events.
"What did I do to her?" he asked becoming even more upset. Jet swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
"When you saw her talking to him, you just stopped dead as if you saw a ghost. Then after she went into your bedroom and came out, you questioned her but then resorted to screaming." He said. With each detail, Spike became more and more distraught, breathing heavier and shaking more. "You grabbed her by her wrists and squeezed hard enough to hurt her. When she told you that you were hurting her, you just loosened your grip and started acting like this." It was silent for a moment before Jet heard a dripping noise. He looked down and saw the tears streaming from Spike's eyes.
"God, why did I do that? What happened?" he said sadly. He wasn't sobbing, his tone was full of sorrow and anger at himself for what he had done. He let loose the grip on his hair and used his hands to hold his head up. With an elbow on each knee, his hands cradled his forehead as his tears continued to spill onto the floor. His breathing had slowed, but he was still shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"Spike, calm down. Just apologize to her when she comes home. Tell her you overreacted and you're sorry. Everything'll be alright after you two talk." He said to calm his comrade. With a deep breath, Spike nodded and sat up and leaned back onto the couch. His face was soaked with sweat and tears so he looked for something to wipe his face. Jet sat beside him on the couch and pulled Spike's handkerchief out of his pocket for him and handed it to him. He wiped his face and blew his nose before tossing it down onto the table. He sat silent for a few moments, gathering his thoughts. Jet placed his hand on Spike's shoulder. "You'll be alright." He said as he stood and walked away leaving Spike on the couch by himself. After a moment, Spike got up and went into his old bedroom and came back out with his guitar. He sat back down on the couch, kicked off his boots, and just sat and played for a while, thinking of how to make everything right again.
At the same time, Alex had picked herself up off the dock and straightened herself up before walking into the town. She wandered from dress shop to dress shop looking for the perfect dress. The whole time she looked, she thought about what happened before she left. She looked at dresses and tried to pick something out that Spike would also like. She went into the fourth store and started browsing around. She looked around in there for about half an hour until she came across a long black dress that seemed almost too small for her. She took it to a dressing room and tried it on. It was skintight and was very revealing. The neckline dipped down almost to her stomach but stopped just short of the bottom of her ribcage. It wrapped around her breasts and the rest of her body like a second skin. The slit on the left side came just over half way up her thigh and the straps were very thin. The back dipped down to her lower back and came to a 'V' point. It was a soft material, a solid black. She looked at the price tag so she could get an idea of how much she'd be able to spend on other things she'd need like shoes and a shawl. She quickly changed back to her regular clothes and returned to the store to look for something for her shoulders. She came across a mesh-like material shoulder wrap for cheap, so she took that. She paid for the dress and shawl and headed for the shoe store. She found a pair of black stilettos that were surprisingly comfortable so she bought them and a pair of stockings that covered her foot enough to wear the shoe comfortably and not be seen. By this time, she had been gone from the ship about 3 hours and was ready to head back. She hoped that Spike had calmed down by now. She took her time walking back to the ship, window-shopping the whole way. She stopped for a quick bite to eat at a little café since her stomach was growling and she wasn't eager to get back to the ship. After she had finished, she decided it was time to head back and bite the bullet. She figured it was getting late anyway and she had to get ready soon. She finally reached the docks and walked out to the ship. She heard a guitar playing up on the deck, so she decided just to go in the door that was right there. It opened and she walked in. Her footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as she emerged into the living area. Neither Spike, nor Jet were anywhere to be seen, so she just went into their bedroom to put the dress away for after she showered. It was about 4 in the afternoon by now and she decided that she'd work on cleaning up the Pegasus. She walked up into the hangar and saw that the door to the deck was wide open. She looked out and saw Spike sitting out on the edge, strumming his guitar. She wasn't sure if he had calmed down or not, so she just walked over to the rusted craft she had just gotten and started pulling the weeds and junk out of the landing gear. As all of the stuff began to crumble to the ground, the sound echoed out of the ship, reaching Spike's ears. He turned and looked and saw piles of dirt around the front landing gear and heard the sound of someone walking around on the top of the Pegasus. He picked up his amp and guitar and decided it would be a good idea to apologize now while she was right there. He walked into the hangar and as his eyes adjusted, he saw her messing around with the cockpit dome. He set the instrument and amp down on the floor just inside the doorway with a clunk, which caused Alex to look up. She saw him standing there watching her and then went back to working around the cockpit.
"Alex." He spoke softly. She had a wrench in her hand and was loosening the dome from the body as he spoke.
"What?" she asked as she continued working, sounding as if he was bothering her. Spike knew she was mad at him and didn't want to talk to him after what he did, which made him even more nervous to talk to her. He took a deep breath and spoke as she worked facing away from him.
"I'm sorry…about today," he said slowly, as if choking on the words. She stopped what she was doing and listened without turning and looking at him. "I didn't know what I was doing until after I did it. I guess I did it because I thought I saw Vicious. I'm sorry if I hurt you and I hope you forgive me." The silence that followed was deafening. Spike dropped his eyes to the floor; maybe she wasn't going to forgive him after all. Suddenly there was a soft thud and he looked up to see Alex standing next to the Pegasus with the wrench still in her hand, but she looked as if she was about to cry. He took an uneasy step towards her and she did the same. When they both realized they had each been forgiven, Alex dropped the wrench and ran into Spike's arms as he ran for hers. The tears poured down both their cheeks as they held each other close. She buried her face into his shoulder and he buried his into her sweet-smelling hair.
"I love you Spike, please don't be mad at me." She cried.
"Alex, I could never be mad at you. I love you too much. I could never live with myself if something like this happened again." he said with a sniffle. They just stood holding each other for a little while, realizing how blessed they were to have one another.
"Are you alright now Spike?" Alex asked him as she let go and pulled away. He kissed her forehead and then managed a shaky smile.
"I think so."
"I've never seen you cry. I guess that means something." She said as she kissed his cheek.
"Yea, it means we were meant for each other." He said as he kissed her deeply, taking her breath away. Their salty tears tried to ruin the moment, but they just couldn't.