Ring on her Finger
By Nickeltaffy
Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).
Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?
….
Chapter 3
It was about twenty minutes before sunset, when Buffy arrived at Giles' apartment The door was unlocked, so Buffy went in, announcing "Giles I'm here."
There was no answer. " Hmmm." she thought Yeah, she was a little early, but he knew that she always showed up around this time of day. Maybe he was upstairs. Or maybe, Spike had done something dreadful to him and he couldn't speak. She glanced around the room looking for evidence of a struggle..Or it was possible that he was just out, but why wasn't the door locked?
She heard a small scrapping sound come out of the bathroom by the kitchen. She slowly walked over the hallway and pressed herself against the wall. The door was just slightly ajar. Like someone had closed it; but did not check to if it had latched and the door drifted open. She quickly moved over to the front of the door, it just inches from her nose. She listened to see if she could hear any sounds that would indicate someone needing assistance. She heard movement and a small thud from the other side of the door. She pushed the door open a foot and quietly slid into the bathroom.
There was Spike with one foot out of the bathtub with a hand towel wrapped around his hips. He looked up and saw her, that strange look of loss played around his eyes. His face settled into a look of irritation as he looked at her.
"Hello, Buffy" he said with barely covered annoyance
"Hello, Spike. What are you doing?" Buffy said as she tried to keep her eyes on his face.
"I would think that would be obvious, pet " he said, pulling his other foot out of the tub.
She rolled her eyes, put her hands on her hips and said with a huff, "Where's Giles?"
"We ran low on supplies, so he made a run to the store." Spike answered.
"Oh. What are you doing unchained?"
"If you haven't noticed, Slayer, it is still light outside. I am not going anywhere. I got Giles to release me so I could clean up…besides, my clothes still have to dry."
"Really? Washing your clothes, when did you get so fastidious?"
"They smelled like you. I am struggling to block the memories of last night and how you were all over me. Well, I couldn't forget while my clothes were stinking of your stupid perfume. So, if you don't mind?" he motioned to the door.
Spike took his eyes off the Slayer and looked around for another towel. He had forgotten to check on the towel situation before he got in the shower. So, now he was stuck with the hand towel, he had wrapped around him. He didn't like being caught like this. If there was one thing, he could still cling to, it was a shred of dignity.
She stood there, just staring at him with her mouth open, trying to make a sound.
"So, why are you still here?" He asked, looking at her with a tired look. Then, he shook his head, sending a small spray of water from his tightly curling locks. That motion was seemed to jolt Buffy out of her stupor.
"What do you mean "I" was all over you?" Buffy said aghast.
Spike rolled his eyes. He knew she wasn't going to be turning around and leaving now.
Buffy continued her rant: "What about you?" Lowering her voice and moving her head and shoulders in a mocking manner "OOH, LOOK AT THAT LIP. GONNA GET IT. GONNA GET IT." Putting her hand on her stomach as if it made her a little nauseous. "I know I am going to need therapy to get over that!"
She waited for his sharp retort. She was surprised when he calmly spoke. "You're right. I sincerely believe you do need therapy."
That tone surprised her more than she could say. How dare he say something so personal like that. She moved a little closer to him. She could smell the clean smell of soap and shampoo coming off him. It was really quite sexy.
She opened her mouth to threaten him as she usually did these days, but found her heart wasn't in it. She stopped herself and looked at his face. Really, looked at him. She remembered the things about him that impressed her from last night. The stone flickered on her hand.
Without touching him, she leaned over and whispered softly in his ear. "I can't stop thinking about what you said last night. I meant what I said too."
"Huh?" Spike's eyes darted over to Buffy's face. He was completely puzzled by what she just said.
"What did you say, Slayer?"
He waited for her to break character, but when that did not seem to be happening. The air grew uncomfortable between them. Spike slowly lowered his shoulder and pulled away from what seemed to be Buffy's looming presence. What was going on with the Slayer? She was a right cagey bit. He remembered her taunting him while he was chained in the bathtub only yesterday. "Oh no, she wasn't going to get him to fall for anything!" he thought.
"Right." He said, clearing his throat. "Would you mind tossing me a towel from the linen closet on your way out?" He was going to tough this situation out.
She smiled as she closed the distance between them. Her finger came up under his chin. Spike was looking decidedly uncomfortable. She looked up at him with such affection, that it froze his blood as if that would do anything to a vampire.
"If you want to keep this thing secret, that's okay, but I still want quality time with you." As she put her hand behind his head and pulled down his head for a kiss. Spike's eyes that had witnessed torments for over one hundred years, never looked more terrified than at that moment. Spike turned his head at the last minute, so that Buffy planted a kiss on his cheek. "Okay baby, I can wait." She whispered to him.
"I think I heard Giles." Spike said quickly, hoping the watcher had indeed returned.