Spike yawned as he woke, rolling onto his side like he did every morning. His body instinctively seeking out Kat. But as his arm went to wind around her, it instead just flopped to the empty bed. He blinked open his bleary eyes, wondering where she was. It was still light outside, as evidenced by the faint glow coming from behind the thick curtains. Wasn't like it was weird for Kat to be gone in the morning. She mostly kept human hours, especially since she still had a very human job. She just took the tunnel into the sewers to work. But she'd booked a day off. He had no idea why since it was the middle of the week but he was hardly going to complain about having more time with his girl. He stretched languidly before he stood, no use in staying in bed when Kat was downstairs doing God knows what. He wondered if she was cleaning again. Ever since she'd come back turned she'd gotten into cleaning the place. Said it was therapeutic or some other bollocks. She wasn't too anal about it though. The only time the place had been truly spotless was when Clem had been staying here when he'd gone out to LA to stay with Kat. But she liked to keep on top of it, keep it clean. He slipped on a t-shirt and some jeans, padding barefoot out into the hallway. It was then that a smell hit him. Pancakes. Shit, had he missed something? Pancakes were a Summers' tradition to celebrate a special occasion. But he knew damn well it wasn't the girl's birthday again yet and he hoped to God he wasn't about to go downstairs and see one of the Scoobies stinking up his living space. All he could hear though was a light humming coming from Kat.
He descended the stairs slowly, watching her as she came into view in the open place living area. She was in the kitchen, humming something he wasn't quite familiar with as she tossed a pancake expertly in the pan. He just watched her a moment as he got to the bottom of the stairs. He did that a lot. Some might find it creepy but he just loved watching her in her unguarded moments, where she didn't realize he was watching. She turned to grab a plate, freezing when she saw him. But then a wide grin stretched on her face.
"Happy birthday!" she beamed, looking right happy with herself. He blinked at her slowly for a moment, not quite registering what she'd said.
"Birthday?" he asked, perplexed.
"Yep! You won't tell me when yours is, so I figured I'd give you one. I was torn between making you a pisces or a scorpio. But I thought scorpio fit vampire Spike more and the pisces was more of a William thing," she grinned cheekily, plating up the pancakes. His dead heart squeezed in his chest for a moment. She might think he wasn't giving his birthday up because he was being stubborn, no idea he actually couldn't fully remember, but she'd still wanted to celebrate him anyway. He even got the Summers treatment of the pancakes. Made him feel like he had a place in her little family. Something that was precious to her.
"You uh… didn't have to," he murmured, clearing his throat when his voice cracked a little. Her face softened as she walked over to him, winding her arms around his neck.
"I wanted to. And you're not gonna complain about it. So sit down and eat your pancakes so I can give you your presents," she smirked, placing a firm kiss to his lips before walking back to the stove.
He wasn't often rendered speechless, but he was. He felt touched by the gesture as he moved to sit down obediently. And then his pancakes smothered in blood were placed in front of him and his lips twitched into a smile. He remembered the last time they'd done this. Her own birthday back before she'd been turned. He'd put blood in his own pancakes and she'd used syrup. This time though she had blood on her own and she happily dug into them as she sat with him. Oh, how times change. They ate their breakfast with easy small talk as they always did and once they'd finished, she bounced off her seat, grabbing the plates and practically tossing them into the sink before she ran off. She came back with a pile of presents. Wrapped presents. It was black wrapping paper with red 'happy birthday's printed on it. It had been so long since he'd had a birthday, the last being when he was human. It felt so foreign to him now as he opened his presents with a giddy Kat watching him. She'd gifted him some band t-shirts. His favorite bands to be exact and some records to match. Some of them he'd been trying to get hold of for a while. Wasn't that easy anymore since people were more for CDs than records. She'd got him a new pair of Docs too, citing how his were abused and a mess. She wasn't really wrong. But then the last present was a smaller box. Long and slim. He tore the wrapping paper off it and opened the navy blue box. It was a silver chain, and dangling on the end were a pair of dog tags. The first one read "William 'Spike' Pratt" with two dates underneath. The first seemingly his birthday, being today's date but with the accurate year, 1853. The second one seemed to be the date he died given the year of it, although she seemed to have guessed a date for it since he didn't really remember. The second dog tag read "Katherine Emily Summers" with her birthday and her date of death too. He felt his throat constrict as he gazed upon the gift.
"Do you like them?" she asked softly, the vulnerability in her voice not going unnoticed by him. His eyes snapped to hers then, seeing her watching him carefully. A little more nervous than excited now.
"I… I love them. Thank you," he murmured, looking back down at them. He'd never received a gift such as this before and he wasn't quite sure what else to say. But his words had a smile creeping onto her face again and he slipped the chain over his head, feeling the weight of the dog dogs settle on his chest.
"I'm glad you like them," she smiled shyly. He smiled back, a hand reaching out for hers.
"You didn't need to do this. All this must have cost a fortune," he said with a small frown. He knew Docs weren't cheap and the necklace didn't look it either. She rolled her eyes, giving him a crooked smile.
"You're worth it," she grinned, echoing words he'd uttered to her two birthdays ago when he'd gotten her the tarot cards. She didn't seem to use them much anymore, not that he blamed her with the way they messed with her head. Damn things seemed to love toying with her.
"I don't even know what to say. It's been a while since someone's made such a fuss about me. My mum was the last one," he mused quietly, his hand automatically going up to the dog tags as his fingers toyed with them.
"You deserve to be celebrated. Lets just hope no one gets shot this birthday," she snorted. How could he bloody forget about that. The last birthday she'd had, she'd taken a bullet to her when that wanker demon was possessing people. He had no desire to repeat that again.
He happily spent most of the day just relaxing on the sofa with her, watching crappy TV. There was no place he'd rather be than by her side, no matter what they ended up doing. Once it got dark, she was messing on her phone and not paying so much attention to the TV.
"We need to head out to the magic shop. Giles wants us," she sighed.
"Of course he does. Can't give us a bloody day off, even when you ask in advance," he grumped. She snorted, hitting his arm lightly before she stood.
"Come on, birthday boy. Let's get this over with," she smirked wryly, grabbing his duster and tossing it to him. He caught it easily, slipping it on as she put her own denim jacket on. The walk there was peaceful and he was in no rush to get there, hoping it wasn't some end of the world drama. Not when Kat had worked hard to give him a good day. She seemed more on edge though, eager to get there. He knew she was a worrier though. Couldn't help herself. She stopped just outside the door and he could hear faint murmuring inside but not what was being said. Kat gave him a little smile that turned him all upside down, grabbing his hand before she pushed open the door.
"Happy birthday!"
He stood there for a moment, once more dumbfounded by what he was greeted with. The shop was littered with balloons and birthday banners, one looking handmade with his name on it and he had a sneaking suspicion it was the youngest Summers who'd made it by the little cartoon vampire on it. Everyone was there. Buffy, Dawn, Giles, the witches, Xander and Anya. Hell, even Clem was there. The Bit, witches, Anya and Clem all had on little party hats. Weirdest part was the fact they were all smiling at him and for a moment he'd wondered if he'd slipped off into another dimension. Seemed to happen to him often enough.
His thoughts were cut off by Dawn bounding over to him with a beaming grin, wrapping her arms around his middle.
"Happy birthday, Spike," she smiled, squeezing him before she let him go. He was bombarded then with people approaching him, wishing him happy birthday. He got hugs off Willow and her witchy lover, Clem, Anya and even Buffy had given him the briefest of hugs. Giles had given him a pat on the arm, much more amicable than Spike could wrap his head around and Xander had given him a nod. He was quite perplexed. He knew they'd accepted him more because of Kat, being her soulmate and all. And the soul of his own and the being on the good side also helped him win them over a bit. But they'd never been overly buddy buddy with him, at least not all of them. He couldn't quite grasp the fact they'd thrown him a birthday party, even if Kat had asked them to. Thought they didn't like him enough to go along with it. He knew if the shoe was on the other foot, he'd say no. Well, actually he wouldn't. 'Cause he couldn't deny his girl a bloody thing, so he'd go along with it like a good little love sick puppy. But still. They didn't much seem like Kat had twisted their arm, the atmosphere pleasant as everyone smiled and chatted among themselves. Was strange to him. Fitting in somewhere like this. Even when he was part of the Whirlwind, they'd never given enough of a crap about him to do something like this for him. Always felt like the odd one out. Like he didn't belong. And now here he was, having a sodding birthday party.
Kat led him over to the table and he sat beside her, some of the others sitting while the others milled about.
"We have cake!" Willow grinned, coming out from the back with a cake on a plate. It looked homemade, white frosting with sprinkles all over it.
"Willow made it," Tara added softly, a proud smile aimed at her lover.
"What, no blood to go on top?" he asked teasingly, still unsure how to deal with all this friendliness aimed his way. Willow blinked at him and then looked down at the cake she'd placed on the table.
"I… I mean… I don't think everyone else would want blood on their cake. But-But it does have jelly in the middle!" she smiled awkwardly, tugging at her sleeves. She looked contrite, like she'd done something wrong and he felt a pesky pang of guilt after the effort she'd gone to for him.
"Was a joke, Red," he murmured with a reassuring smile. She visibly relaxed, chuckling with a nod.
"I knew that," she snorted, clearly lying through her teeth.
"Can we do presents yet?!" Dawn asked impatiently, wriggling in her seat like it was Christmas. Bloody presents. Not only had they thrown him a party, but they'd bought him things. Things he didn't feel like he deserved.
"We should do the cake first," Buffy informed, giving her bouncy sister a look.
"But Buffy! Pleeeeease!" she whined back, giving her the puppy eyes.
"Well, it's Spike's birthday. So maybe we should see what he wants to do," Giles said simply. Not an insult in sight. All eyes turned to him then and he felt very uncomfortable. Like he'd woken up in upside down world. He felt a reassuring squeeze of his hand, forgetting Kat was holding it. She glanced at him and she gave him a warm and patient smile. It calmed him instantly.
"We could do the presents. Don't need the Bit spontaneously combustin' from excitement," he said wryly. Dawn grinned, pumping her fist in the air as Buffy rolled her eyes.
He felt like he'd never had such attention on himself, not good attention anyway. He unwrapped his presents, slightly feeling awkward and out of place as they watched him. Dawn had given him a handmade bracelet. She'd woven it with thick black thread, reminiscent of a manly friendship bracelet. She'd weaved in some red beads. And it touched him. Touched him that she'd made something herself for him like this. Bothered to spend the time. She was over the moon that he liked it and declared that she knew her present would be better than all the others. The witches had gotten him some Pearl Jam tickets for the month after in LA. He hadn't been to a live show in a long time and the anticipation of going, and taking Kat with him, had him excited. Xander and Anya had gotten him some books of his favorite bands. Biographies that he hadn't read yet, didn't even know there were any. But he knew he'd enjoy them. Giles got him a dagger. It was silver with swirly engravings on the wooden handle. It was some sort of antique, not so much that the Watcher wouldn't part with it, but still. Spike was touched by the gesture. It was a thoughtful gift coming from someone he knew was still struggling to accept him. The Watcher in him and also his fatherly streak towards his girl. Clem had told him his gift was covering his tab at Willy's for the next month and Spike had smirked thinking about how he'd really have to make the most out of that one. His demon pal would probably come to regret that decision. Buffy had gone last. When he unwrapped the gift, he'd been a bit speechless. There in an ornate bronze frame was a portrait of him and Kat. Since mirrors were a no go for him and he couldn't be bothered to get snapped by anyone on camera, he hadn't seen himself in a good while. But there he was, smiling with his arm around Kat. It looked like it was painted with oils and he knew it must have taken a while. He didn't quite understand how whoever she'd got to paint it knew how he and Kat looked like to capture them so perfectly.
"This is actually off me and Angel. Angel painted it. I asked him to," she explained. Naturally, his first instinct was to chuck it in the bin. He didn't want anything off that sodding poof. But he couldn't. It was something real, tangible to show the pair of them together and he couldn't be a bugger and say it wasn't well done. It was. And he felt a pang in his chest towards his grandsire who had caused him so much grief over the years that he'd do such a thing. And for the Slayer he'd once wanted to kill who had come up with the idea.
"Buffy…" Kat murmured softly. He looked at her then. She looked a bit tearful, reaching out as she touched the painting with a featherlight touch. Poor girl hadn't seen herself in the mirror either in months. And he knew she'd taken it harder than he had. Had to help her out a few times with her hair as she was driven to tears and threatened to shave it off. Buffy smiled at her, looking a little emotional too as she reached out and took Kat's hand.
"I just… I thought this would be a good gift," she said somewhat shyly.
"It's perfect. Thank you," he uttered sincerely, giving her a meaningful look. He never thought he'd win her over. Her hatred for him and her overbearing overprotective streak towards her cousin. But he knew he'd earned her respect over the last couple of years. Knew he'd proven to her that he'd changed and he loved Kat with everything he had. He wasn't one to try and gain acceptance from people. He didn't give a toss if people liked him or not and he certainly wasn't going to beg for people to like him. But it was different with this lot, especially Buffy. Buffy meant a lot to Kat, which meant she was important to Spike too. He didn't want Kat to be caught in the middle of the Slayer of Slayers and the Slayer herself. It wasn't fair. So he'd done his best to try and show the blonde that he was different now. And it seemed like she'd been listening.
"I'll let Angel know you guys liked it," Buffy smiled warmly before letting Kat's hand go.
"Tell him he's a ponce too," Spike muttered, earning a smack to his chest by Kat who glared at him.
"Spike!" she chided, looking at him like a disappointed parent.
"What? Can't be too nice to him. Don't want Peaches thinkin' we're friends," he shuddered. She rolled her eyes at that but her lips quirked up a bit.
"Now is it finally time for cake?" Buffy asked eagerly. Willow grinned, moving to cut the cake. It was bloody good cake too. Red was a good baker, not like his girl. He wasn't sure if she'd baked it herself or used magic to conjure it up. He hoped she hadn't. Didn't fancy sprouting a bloody tail or horns after eating it.
As he sat there among the Scoobies, he felt a wave of acceptance wash over him. Even if some of them were a little more reluctant than others. He'd never felt like he belonged anywhere until he found Kat. And then he knew his place was by her side. That meant with these people too. And it had started off rocky. Of course it had, he'd tried to kill all of them at least once. Well, not Dawn. But now they treated him like one of their own. A birthday party and presents. No snide remarks or insults. Just a good damn time. And he knew it wouldn't last too long. There would always be a bit of tension with them and honestly, their insults and banter wasn't too bad anymore. Felt more friendly if anything else. He glanced at Kat as she chatted away to the others, a big smile on her face. She looked so bleeding happy. All of this was because of her. She'd given him a birthday 'cause he didn't have one. Made a fuss of him just like his mum used to. And it made his chest ache. She'd given him a place, a purpose. She'd given him a home. He no longer felt like the black sheep. Like the outsider looking in. He felt part of it. Part of something he never knew he wanted. And as selfish as it was, given how it had affected her, he couldn't find it in himself to regret turning her. Because life without her was nothing but a bleak black hole and he knew he wouldn't be able to live without her. Would shove a stake right through his heart if it ever came to it. He needed her like a human needed air to breathe. She was his oxygen, his blood, his soul. She was everything. He knew no matter how good he was, no matter how souled up he was, he didn't deserve her. Even if she told him different. She was nothing but pure white light, even with her demon. She was the light to his darkness and she made him want to be better. Made him want to be a good man for her like she deserved. He'd spend the rest of his unlife making up for all the bad things he'd done so he could keep her. Wouldn't let her slip through his fingers, not again. He loved her so much it made him ache down to his bones. He'd never felt more fulfilled than right now with her by his side.