Thank you to Lonnie for betaing.

Arezue; Desire, William the Bloody

Chapter Two

There was utter silence in the car as they drove on. Spike's teeth clenched and unclenched as he watched Arezue fidget as she fingered an empty carton of cigarettes. He could tell she was going through nicotine withdrawals but was much too proud to breakdown and ask him for one.

Arezue'd always been like this, he reflected. Proud, arrogant, always pretending to be better than she actually was. For some reason, he couldn't really remember why he'd fallen in love with someone so… fucked up. She had so many faults…

But he did truly love her. Whether or not she still loved him, he knew he could never stop loving her.

He'd missed her; he had to admit to himself. Sure, he was still angry about what she'd done all those years ago, but he'd missed her.

Love's bloody bitch, he thought morosely, taking a left at the exit. That's me.

"Why are we stopping?" Arezue demanded as he pulled into a diner. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her, noting that Dawn had obviously started to rub off on him.

So's you can buy your damned fags, you nit. Instead of voicing his inner thoughts he nodded to the gas station next to the diner. "Need more gas." Arezue raised an eyebrow at him.

"And we're stopping at this grungy diner because…"

"Cause 'm cravin' some chips, al'right?" He couldn't keep the anger out of his voice as he pushed the door open and climbed out, slamming the door shut behind him.

He understood that she wasn't particularly happy at being forced into marriage with him, but he honestly couldn't see why she was acting so bitchy.

'Cuz she doesn't want to be with you anymore, ya' bloody nonce, the thought flashed through his head and his hands curled into fists.

The truth always hurt.

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Arezue scowled, tapping her fingernails against the wooden table as they waited to be served. She glanced at her – husband, a voice whispered and she pushed it away, giving him a forced smile.

"Service is slow here, huh?" She commented, trying to break the ice. They did have to spend the rest of eternity together, she told herself. It wouldn't hurt to at least talk once in a while.

Chuckling, Spike leaned in, motioning her forward. "Think the waitress and cook are gettin' it on behind the counter." Arezue giggled.

"You really think so? She's not all that pretty and - " She broke off as her eyes landed on the table, brows furrowing in confusion. While they'd been speaking, Spike had shredded his napkin to form a name. B…U…F…

"Buffy?" Spike's eyes widened at the realization that he'd frayed his napkin into Her name. Rumpling the scraps into a ball, he struggled to regain control of his emotions. "It's not – she's not –" He stumbled over his words, words constricting in his throat.

Arezue cut him off, "Who the hell is she, William?" Anger swelled across her face and Spike opened his mouth to tell her it was nothing. However, she swiftly crushed his reply once again, "And don't you dare lie to me."

Spike's eyes narrowed in defiance; he'd tried to be nice and help her out but the truth was that he was fed up with Arezue's attitude towards him. She acted as if she were absolutely repulsed by the idea of being with him; however, as soon as another girl was mentioned, she became nonsensically jealous. He opened his mouth to tell her off, but reason prevailed; he had no inclination to deal with an Arezue at all at the moment.

Standing up, he gave her an indifferent shrug, "Just some dead bitch." He stood up, deftly ignoring the pain that radiated through his unbeating heart as the words left his mouth and took form.

You bastard… A voice whispered in his mind and it was all he could do to keep from flying at Arezue and wiping the smug look of satisfaction off of her face. You're a monster…so disgusting that even Arezue hates you; the woman who was supposed to love you forever.

Unable to take it anymore, Spike turned and fled the diner so as to take refuge in the car.

Buffy was dead, he was moving on – and it was scaring the hell out of him.