Chapter Thirty-Two: New Arrangements

"Are you sure you don't mind sleeping on the couch, again?" Joy asked Riley for the tenth time that night.

"Look, I've already told you a hundred times that I'm fine with the couch. If you ask me again I'm going to have to tie you down in the bed to make you stay there!" Riley threatened.

"Hmm…how'd you know I was into that sort of thing?" Joy joked as she headed up the stairs to the second floor. "Thanks Riley. I hope you sleep well!"

"You too," Riley waved to her as he settled down on the couch to sleep.

"Hey Joy, I thought you were already asleep." Buffy stopped Joy in the hallway.

"I'm on my way to bed right now. I was just double checking with Riley." Joy explained as she continued towards Buffy's room that she was borrowing until the extra bedroom was cleared of all the various items being stored there and she would have her own bedroom.

"Don't worry about Riley, Joy, he's been in government work forever. He's had to deal with plenty of strange sleeping arrangements. The sofa's not a problem for him." Buffy followed Joy to her room. "Is there anything you need?"

"Buffy, I doubt that I'll ever be able to repay you for everything that you've already done for me. I appreciate it all more than you'll ever understand, but I'm here now and I need to not feel like I'm your charity case or something." Joy explained as she stood in the doorway of the bedroom. "I am completely capable of taking care of myself. I am totally grateful for having a place to live but I don't need you all to baby me, okay?"

Buffy backed off. "Okay, I get it. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Joy watched Buffy walk back down the hallway to Dawn's room where she was sleeping for the time being and then she closed the bedroom door.

Sleep wasn't even an option and Joy knew that before she even laid down. Usually the young slayer was incredibly talented at masking her feelings and controlling her emotions, mostly because she had so much practice. Lately, however (especially tonight) as Joy lay on the bed, tucked under the covers and squeezing her eyes shut trying to force herself to sleep, unwanted tears began forming behind her closed eyelids, begging to be released. She rolled onto her stomach to muffle her sobs as she began to cry. It was as though she was trying to cry away everything that had happened in the past year. It was a lot to wash away and she didn't stop crying for most of the night.

The next morning she woke up hoarse and her eyes were red and swollen. She took a long shower, washing her face with cold water to try and reduce the splotchy appearance of her dried tears. Even after washing her face though, she still looked a mess and she didn't want to be seen by the others. They would definitely know that she had been crying. She procrastinated leaving the bedroom as long as possible but eventually the others realized she was awake and came to retrieve her for breakfast.

"Joy, Willow made French toast…your favorite right?" Buffy spoke through the closed door after knocking. Joy didn't answer right away. "Joy, aren't you awake?"

"Yea, just a minute," Joy replied from inside the room. She hurriedly covered her red face with powder before opening the door. "Good morning." She tried to sound cheery but her voice was still a little scratchy from crying for so long.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked with concern.

"Yea, I'm fine." Joy cleared her throat and stepped past Buffy and headed down the hallway towards the stairs, trying her best not to limp on her sore leg. "I just had a rough night. No big deal."

"Are you sure?" Buffy followed at the younger slayer's heels.

"Yea." Joy answered simply, ending the conversation.

Buffy didn't push the subject any farther. She followed Joy silently down to the dining room and sat at the table with all the others who were already there waiting.

"Are we going to school today?" Dawn asked immediately. "Because I really don't want to." She smiled sheepishly. "I haven't exactly finished the paper that I was supposed to have written for English…"

"Dawn!" Buffy scolded half-heartedly. She glanced at Willow who was trying to hide her grin. "Whatever Dawn, I don't care if you go to school today or not. Just realize that you're going to have a lot of catching up to do next week."

Dawn nodded, "I know, don't worry I'll be able to catch up fine."

"I don't care about school, I just wish my damn leg would heal!" Joy decided as she helped herself to another slice of French toast.

"Joy, it's only been two days!" Willow reminded the anxious young girl.

"Yea, even with your slayer healing powers, it's going to take a while for your ankle to heal completely." Buffy commented with a shrug. "And until you are healed one hundred percent you are going to be taking a break from patrolling."

"Whatever!" Joy replied, louder than necessary. "I'm good enough to patrol."

"No you're not!" Buffy insisted. "And as long as you're living under my roof you'll live by my rules…" she stopped herself when she realized how controlling she was being. Noticing the fiery glare forming in Joy's bright turquoise eyes she tried to correct herself. "I didn't mean that…umm…Joy you know that I want you to feel at home here…I'm sorry…I'm so used to playing mom for Dawn…"

Joy shook her head. "Forget about it, it's fine." She was lying and it was sort of obvious, but nobody wanted to make things any more awkward than they already were. "Thanks for breakfast, Willow." Joy stood up as soon as she had finished eating. "I'm kind of tired. I think I'm going to rest for a while." She headed towards the stairs.

"Are you okay Joy?" Buffy asked.

"Yea, I just need rest. I'll be fine." She lied again and stumbled up the stairs until she could collapse on her bed.

She didn't leave the room for the rest of the day. She knew they probably didn't understand her emotions and that was just fine with Joy, but she still didn't want to be around them. She needed time by herself in order to sort out her frustrated confusion. She was very grateful for Buffy's hospitality and for all the scoobies offered friendship, but Joy did not want to be coddled. If she thought that she was well enough to go out then she could go out. It wasn't Buffy's decision to make. She was not her mother!

By eleven o'clock, Joy had heard everyone retire to their rooms for the night, except for Buffy who was just preparing to leave to patrol. Joy laid still on her bed listening as Buffy left the house and locked the front door behind her exit. Watching from the window, Joy waited until Buffy disappear down the dark sidewalks towards the nearby graveyard, then she prepared for her own escape. She dressed quickly in clothes that were appropriate for the night that she planned on having away from the pointless paranoia of the whole household.

At eleven thirty Joy quietly slid the bedroom window open and leaned far out, estimating how easily she would be able to climb out onto the roof and then the distance that she would have to drop to the ground. She'd attempted more difficult feats than this before. She held the thin leather strap of her purse tightly with her teeth and straddled the window frame, carefully placing her tall stiletto heel on the roof ledge just beneath the window. She swung her other leg around and squatted down until her hands had found the ledge. She slowly leaned out over the edge to see how far down the ground was. It was at least a ten foot drop and she knew that it would hurt her ankle if she just jumped off of the roof, and since she wasn't an idiot she started looking around for an alternative way down. A few feet away from where she was perched a tree grew relatively close to the roof and Joy decided that it would be the easiest and safest way to reach the ground. Shuffling her feet carefully along the ledge of the roof, Joy made her way over to the tree. Balancing dangerously in her stilettos, Joy stretched out her arms until she could reach one of the thick branches. She took hold of the tree and let her feet slip off the roof and wrap around the tree trunk.

After she had safely landed on the ground, Joy quickly straightened out her rumpled clothes and glanced around to make sure that she hadn't woken anybody in her escape. When she was certain of her safety Joy crept into her car and started it, hoping that it would be quiet and then before anyone had a chance to wake and see her she sped out of the driveway and down the vacant streets in the opposite direction from the cemetery towards the Bronze. It was the perfect solution for her need to escape the confines of the Summers' good intentioned but way overly protective house.

She parked behind the club and didn't waste any time locating the back entrance that was supposed to be reserved for employees and hired musicians, but she wasn't in the mood for a crowd of people pressing at the front door to enter. She slipped up against the shadows of the club wall and crept into the back room of the club trying to blend in with the band's crew. With a smile and a wink she was able to maneuver away from the workers and melt into the club, crowded with dancers.

Barely taking a second to survey the room for interesting man-prey, Joy instantly made her way to the bar and ordered a beer before moving to the front of the dance floor, close enough to touch the stage. As always, it wasn't necessary for Joy to have a dancing partner in order to enjoy herself. She kept her eyes glued to the band on stage and skillfully matched her movements to the rhythm of the music. The lead guitar player noticed the attractive young girl dancing close to the stage and moved slowly along the edge of the stage in order to get closer to where she was dancing. When Joy realized that he was staring at her she smiled slightly with an innocently flirtatious sparkle in her eyes. He grinned and played for the rest of the song with his eyes fixed on her. Joy danced sultrily, more than usual, all for the purpose of attracting the most attention as possible, especially from the handsome musician on stage.

At the end of the song Joy made sure that the guitarist could see her as she slowly strolled away from the stage, weaving in and out of the crowd, making her way towards the bar, depositing her empty beer bottle at a vacant table along the way. She took her seat with success because only a second after she sat down the musician had taken the seat next to her.

"Hi." He grinned at her.

"Hey," Joy replied with a sweet smile.

"I'm Greg," he introduced himself and held out his hand in greeting.

Joy shook his hand softly but didn't offer her name. "Hi Greg." She looked away from him, pretending not to be interested and Greg frowned.

"Umm, I noticed you dancing…" Greg said slowly. "You seemed to have noticed me playing too…" He was fishing for conversation but she wasn't being very talkative. She smiled at him politely, but very briefly, and then turned back to try and get the bartender's attention. "Here, let me buy you a drink!" Greg offered quickly. He called the bartender over and ordered himself a beer. "What'll you have doll?" He asked Joy.

She smiled at the bartender, "I'll have a martini, dirty, with two olives." She silently prayed that the server wouldn't ask for her ID. This musician was way too attractive for Joy to be humiliated in front of. Luckily the V-neck of her dark red halter revealed enough cleavage to distract the bartender and he served her the drink without hesitation.

"Dirty, huh?" Greg grinned and moved his bar stool closer to Joy and leaned on the counter so that their faces were only a few inches apart. "Come on, tell me your name beautiful!"

"Beautiful?" Joy smiled slightly. "I like that." She glanced at the stage where the band was starting another song. "Don't you need to be back on stage?"

"Not really, the guys can play this one without me." He let his hand slowly reach out to hers. "Besides, there's no way I could focus. I can't think of anything but you!"

"You're a smooth talker, aren't you?" Joy couldn't continue to ignore him.

"I can be when I try." He admitted with an unconscious wink. "So, what's a pretty young girl like you doing in a place like this so late at night, all alone?"

Joy thought about why she was there, and about everything that had been going on in the past couple of weeks. The tension started building and her head started aching. She took a sip of her drink, trying to clear the chaos from her head. She remembered why she had come to the Bronze in the first place, in order to take her mind off of all her problems and have a chance for some innocent fun. She smiled at Greg without speaking.

Understanding her flirtatious smile, Greg stood, taking his beer bottle with him, and held his hand out to Joy. "Well, if you're not interested in conversation perhaps you'd be interested in dancing?"

Joy took her martini in one hand and took Greg's hand with the other and obediently followed him away from the bar and onto the dance floor. Dropping her hand, his arm instantly wrapped around her waist, pulling her body close to his own. She didn't protest. This was exactly what she needed. This was why she had come to the Bronze, to be entertained and to be able to ignore her life.

Ignore. Yes. Ignore everything around her except what she was facing at that exact moment. Greg. A man. A perfect male specimen holding her tightly and eyeing her with admiration and lust. Yes, the lust was feverishly strong. If she gave him the slightest indication he would release his desire with the type of casual passion that she felt she needed. His eyes roamed her face and her body, taking in every beautiful aspect of her sexily clothed figure. His hand began to travel in unison with his eyes. She felt his fingers slide down her spine to the base of her back where his whole hand pressed into her, forcing their bodies to creep closer together. This was her opportunity. It was the perfect time for an indication. He wouldn't move again without her permission, she could tell that he was one of those types, but she would give it to him. She had to. If she didn't she would regret it. It was why she came here, after all. No words were necessary. One simple smile and directional shift with her eyes told him all that he needed to know. His gentlemanly manners vanished instantly. Their bodies separated and his hand circled her wrist leading her immediately away from the crowd to the back room and out the back door. He didn't stop until they reached the alley on the side of the club.

In a second her back was against the cold concrete wall, his body was pressed up tightly to hers. The martini glass dropped from her hand as her arms wrapped around his neck, shattering unnoticed on the pavement. Her lips locked onto his without thought or hesitation. He eagerly pursued her kiss letting his hand brace against the wall, smashing the beer bottle in the process and uncaringly being sprinkled with the remaining alcohol that was still inside.

His tongue excitedly slid along the outside of her mouth, down her chin, and to her neck. He began the pleasurable process of kissing, sucking, and slightly nibbling at her sensitive skin at the base of her neck. She moaned happily and let her fingers massage through his hair, her nails barely scraping his scalp. It was the perfect release for her built up tension. Her eyes unconsciously shut as he continued to form a sizeable hickey on her neck. His arms wrapped around her middle tightly. Their hips rubbed as he pulled their bodies closely together. His hand went to the edge of her shirt and slowly slid underneath the fabric. Her hands rested on his chest and she let out a deep gasp as his fingers tickled her skin. It felt indifferently perfect.

He could smell her. That was strange. Well, of course he was used to being able to smell people, but it was the first time that he had ever consciously picked up her scent. The young slayer's scent. He had left her with the scoobies. They were supposed to keep her safe, with them, not let her go roaming the streets alone, late at night, when she still wasn't fully healed. Bloody idiots, the lot of them. Spike fumed as he walked the dark streets of Sunnydale, following the scent.

The scent lead him to the Bronze. Dumb broad. What's she thinking coming here in her condition? He was becoming so angry at her decision to leave the house that he almost lost her scent. Standing still just outside the front door of the club, Spike sniffed the air until he managed to rediscover the scent. It was strong. It was active. He frowned. Her scent was closely mixed with another. The new scent reeked of aggression and arousal. Following the scent, Spike was led to the alley at the back of the club.

He stopped short when he saw them. Joy was there with a man. He didn't smell like a vampire, but Spike didn't always trust his instinct. He had unmistakably smelled the aggression and he could see the man's aggression as he ravaged the young slayer. She wasn't even fighting him. She must be drunk. And the bastard's taking advantage of her! Ballocks slayer! Use some sense! Spike saw him lower his mouth to her neck and Spike's hands clenched into fists. Joy still didn't fight him.

Then he heard her gasp. She was in pain! He leapt out of the shadows and lunged at the man, pulling him away from her and shoving him hard onto the pavement. Without even waiting to see Joy's reaction, Spike attacked the confused man, slamming his face repeatedly with his fierce fists. Within seconds the man's face was bloody, his nose broken, and he was hollering for help.

"Spike!" Joy screamed, shocked and desperate. Just as Spike's knee prepared to connect with Greg's stomach, his head exploded with pain allowing Joy the time to tear him off of Greg. "What the hell are you doing?"

Spike held his head and stared at her in alarm. He turned back to the man, still laying broken and bloodied on the pavement. Spike's eyes widened and he shook his head. "He's not a vampire."

"What? No!" Joy knelt at Greg's side and held her fingers to his neck. "You're lucky you didn't kill him!"

Spike analyzed Joy's rumpled hair and smeared lipstick with embarrassment. "So then, you weren't in trouble…" He said slowly. "You two were just…uh…messing around."

"Yea, do you have a problem with me having a social life?" Joy glared furiously. "God dammit Spike!" She stood and moved close to him to make her point. "Were you following me?"

"No," Spike faltered. "I just thought you were in trouble. I just wanted to help…" He gazed at the injured man on the ground. "He's okay right?"

"Barely," Joy sighed. "Just leave."

Spike shook his head. "Let me help, Gidget."

"I think you've done enough." Joy's tone was fiery. "Get away from me."

I just wanted to help. Spike wanted to make her understand but he didn't know how to make her listen. "Sure, alright." He started to back away from her. "What are you going to do?"

Joy sighed. "I don't know." There wasn't really anything that she could do. Spike had almost killed the man she was making out with. She had to help him, but she didn't know how to explain everything to him. Tears uncontrollably clouded her eyes. "This is not how tonight was supposed to go!"

"What do you mean?" Spike didn't leave.

"I just wanted to get out, let off some steam, and now this…" She glanced at the limp body and frowned. "I'm doomed to have a complicated life aren't I?"

Spike shrugged. "It's only as complicated as you make it."

"Who died and made you Confucius?" Joy muttered under her breath sarcastically. "I told you to go away."

"I'm not leaving you here to deal with this slayer," Spike decided. "You've got enough going on right now. This was my fault. You shouldn't have to take the blame. Come on, just walk away. No one will know. The bloke will wake up and think he was mugged and you panicked and ran. No harm done." He hung his head. "I honestly didn't mean to get in your way. I just wanted to help. I thought he was attacking you."

Joy sighed. "I know you did. Thanks, I guess. But, you should know that I can take care of myself."

"Come on luv, walk away with me." He held out his hand to her. She walked towards him but she didn't take his hand. He lead her back to her car and helped her into the passenger side so he could drive her home. "What were you doing out here tonight anyway?"

"Like I said, I just needed to blow off some steam." Joy pulled an unopened beer bottle out from under the seat, achieving a lifted eyebrow from Spike's surprise at her alcohol stash.

"You should have come to me. I'm an expert in that area." Spike informed her.

"What, I could have come and made out with you?" Joy opened the bottle and guzzled the alcohol. "You couldn't have given me what I needed tonight."

"Sure I could've." Spike answered without thinking fully. "Wait…I didn't mean that you could've come to makeout with me…that didn't come out right…" He frowned. "Umm…what exactly did you need tonight?"

Joy was silent for a minute. "I don't know exactly. I just had to get out of that house! They treat me like a baby, completely incapable of any mature human thoughts or actions. I needed to feel truly alive."

"And you thought the best way of accomplishing that was to go and pick up some random gent from a club?" Spike grinned. "You're sort of a slut, aren't you?"

Joy glared. "I'm not a slut. I just needed someone to help me take my mind off of things. Sex seemed like the best remedy, at the time…" She realized how loose she was being in the conversation and quickly quieted. "Who are you to judge me?" She turned fierce again. "You're a vampire, for Christ's sake!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Spike pulled the car off to the side of the road suddenly and shifted it into park. "You know, I get that the idea of me being a vampire makes you a bit uncomfortable Princess, but you've got to bloody move on! Yes, I am basically dead, but I'm not dangerous, and I'm not evil."

"You're a demon." Joy reminded him bluntly.

"Well, yea, but still…" Spike was getting frustrated. "Look Gidget, I was going to try and help you with your stress but I'm not so sure I want to anymore."

She tried to ignore his use of his annoying nickname. "How were you going to help?" Joy glanced out the parked car's window with a confused frown. They were parked next to the graveyard. "Why are we here?"

"The only way Buffy's ever successfully managed to fight her stress is with a real fight. Slaying. You need to slay something, luv." He got out of the car and motioned for her to follow him.

"Buffy wouldn't allow me to patrol with her tonight. She's says I'm not physically well enough." Joy rolled her eyes. "I'm fine though. She just doesn't want to have to watch me, which she doesn't need to anyway." She quickly added. "Because I feel great. My ankle doesn't even hurt." She made her best attempt at walking straight in her high stiletto heels, expertly ignoring the pain that shot through her ankle with every shaky step she took.

"Well, how 'bout we don't tell the slayer 'bout this?" Spike suggested.

Joy couldn't help smiling as she eagerly hurried after the blonde vampire. He was right. She needed a good fight. Sex could have been fun but nothing could assuage her troubled mind like a good battle and a successful staking. She found a broken tree branch on the ground and snapped it in half, making it the perfect stake size.

"I'll sit right here." Spike settled down on the edge of a tombstone. "Holler if you need help."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Joy grinned with anticipation as her eyes scanned the dark cemetery, searching for any sign of the undead. Her head had begun to tingle from her slight abuse of alcohol that evening, but she tactfully pushed the dizziness away from her mind. She was strong enough to handle a couple of drinks. There was no way that she could leave this cemetery without an adequate fight.

Finally, a vampire emerged from its hiding place behind a large tree. He had obviously been watching her for a while, debating whether or not he could win a fight against the young slayer. He must have decided that she wasn't a large enough threat because as soon as he made himself visible to her, he lunged with full energy towards the girl. Joy skillfully blocked his attack and threw him to the ground, leaping on top of him instantly. Disregarding all of her training, Joy began a harsh battle with the creature. She wasn't going to stake him quickly. She wanted a fight, and she was going to be sure that he gave her one.

Spike sat silently, watching her, analyzing her movements, and critiquing her condition. He realized that she was not only still in pain, but she was also slightly intoxicated. He sighed deeply wishing that the girl wasn't such a nuisance. But she is a pretty damn good fighter. He grinned as Joy flung the idiot vampire into a gravestone, shattering the marble stone into pieces. But the energy of her rage started to fade suddenly. As she straightened up she swayed a little and her hand touched her head briefly, revealing her unsteadiness. Spike felt the urge to jump to her aid, but he restrained himself, knowing that she needed to end this fight alone.

Joy shook off her queasiness and resumed her fighting position as the vampire leapt back to his feet and leapt to attack her again. She tumbled backwards beneath him, entirely unsteady on her feet and in seconds he had her pinned to the ground. Spike waited for her call for help but she didn't cry out. Using all the strength she could muster in her weak state, Joy shoved the strong vampire off of her, crawled onto him and planted the stake hard in his chest. As he disintegrated her head exploded with random images. They were so realistic, and so horrible!

For a moment she sat immobile in his dusty remains, trembling with weak confusion. What was that? What the hell was I seeing? She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to remember exactly what she had seen. She shook her head miserably.

Spike watched her in silence after she had staked the vampire. She looked upset. She looked a little shaken up. He frowned. He'd never seen Joy shaken up before. She actually looked like she was trembling. He instinctively stood and watched her protectively, but still from an appropriate distance so that she didn't feel suffocated by his guard. Then her breathing seemed to increase and her shaking became more obvious. Spike took a step towards her uncertainly. Then she collapsed. She fell, unconscious, face down in the dust-covered grass. He ran to her instantly.

"Joy," He knelt beside her and rolled her over onto her back. Her body was trembling violently and her face was as pale as a ghost. "Joy, can you hear me?" There wasn't the slightest response from her limp body. Spike thought quickly and scooped her up into his arms.

He carried her through the maze of dark graves to the crypt that he occupied at the far end of the cemetery. Carefully holding her with one arm, Spike managed to open the door to his 'home' and carry her inside. He looked around the sloppy furnishings of the main room with a frown. Everything was dirty and nothing was a suitable place to deposit the young slayer's body. Shifting her so that her body was slung mostly over one of his shoulders, Spike lifted a hatch in the floor and cautiously descended the ladder that led down to the spacious underground area which he had transformed into his bedroom.

"There you go Gidget," Spike whispered as he gently placed Joy on the large, soft bed. "Rest a bit and feel better." He covered her with a blanket and then pulled a chair over beside the bed where he sat, watching her silently, so he would be ready when she came to.