Chapter Twenty-Five – Tacos and Tea

Spike was blushing as they stepped off the stairs. Joyce was leaning against Buffy's car wearing a small smile as she looked between them and said, "I don't seem to remember it taking that long for you to change your clothes, Buffy."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You know more happened than just changing clothes, Mom. And who was it that had sex with my high school librarian on the hood of a police car? Twice? Because I'm pretty sure it wasn't me, so you have no room to talk."

Joyce's blush matched Spike's as he opened the driver's door for Buffy. When she was seated, he closed the door and motioned shyly to the passenger door. "I'll get the door for you, ma'am."

Joyce nodded and Spike walked around the car and opened the door for her then closed it when she was seated. When he'd settled himself in the back seat, Buffy turned and smiled at him then asked her mom, "How is Mr. Giles anyway?"

Joyce had to clear her throat before she could say, "Rupert is fine."

"So when do I have to start calling him Dad?"

Joyce sputtered, "Excuse me? How did you know…"

Buffy laughed. "That you're getting married?" Buffy reached across the center console and lifted Joyce's left hand. "Your engagement ring kind of gave it away, Mom." She peered at the ring then smiled at her mom. "Nice rock."

Joyce's blush deepened even as she smiled. "He proposed last week. I was going to tell you when I came through on Friday."

Buffy started the car and opened the garage door. "Well, it's about time."

Spike leaned forward and said quietly, "Congratulations, Mrs. Summers."

Joyce turned and smiled at him. "Thank you, Spike."

Spike sat quietly in the back seat as Buffy and Joyce chatted on their drive across town. Buffy kept pointing things out as they drove past, probably more for his benefit than Joyce's, so he tried to pay attention without making it seem like he was eavesdropping on their conversation.

The taco truck ended up being closed, so they went to Taco John's instead. Spike nervously eyed the busy building as Buffy drove past it to park, then he got out and opened Joyce's door. Buffy met them at the back of the car and said quietly, "We could just hit the drive-thru if you've had enough peopling for today."

Spike looked at the building again then shook his head. "I'll be all right, pet."

Joyce asked, "What's wrong?"

Spike looked at her. "Just a bit nervous bein' around so many people, ma'am."

"Spike gets to pick where we sit so he can have a wall at his back, okay, Mom?" She took Spike's hand. "Do you want to line up to order or just go find us a table when we go in?"

Spike looked at the building again, noting a dozen or so people standing in front of the counter waiting to order, then said, "I'll secure the table, if you don't mind."

"Okay. Head to your left as soon as we get inside. There are some tables along the back wall that should work. What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know, luv. A taco would do, I suppose, since we're at a taco place."

Buffy dug her phone out of her pocket. "Hang on a sec and I'll show you their menu." She opened the menu on her phone and handed it to Spike. "They have all kinds of stuff. What are you hungry for?" She scrolled the page and tapped on combos. "These come with a drink."

Spike looked at the phone, carefully scrolling down the page. "Um… this looks interesting." He held the phone where Buffy could see the screen.

"The street tacos combo?" Spike nodded and Buffy took her phone and tapped on the screen then asked, "Steak or chicken?"

"Is there a price difference between the two?"

"No."

"Steak, please."

"Do you want cheese for your olés?"

"My what?"

"The potato things."

"Oh, yes, please."

Buffy put her phone back in her pocket then took Spike's hand and started for the restaurant. "Okay. You go get a table and we'll get the food."

Spike broke to the left as soon as they crossed the threshold, trying not to look like he was scurrying as he walked quickly past a row of booths. Several of the booths along the back wall of the dining room were empty and he chose the one furthest away from any occupied tables. He slid into the seat then took a few deep breaths as he looked around the restaurant, making sure to keep his gaze away from people's faces. He knew the other diners weren't paying him any mind, other than noting his presence, if they even did that much, but he still felt like they were all staring at him.

He picked up the table tent and focused on it, keeping tabs on the movements of the other diners in his peripheral vision, and not absorbing a word of the text written on the tent. He looked up when he noticed Buffy coming toward him and smiled. She set a tray loaded with food on the table in front of him then slid in beside him. "Mom's bringing the drinks. I forgot to ask you what you wanted, so I got lemonade. Hope that's okay."

"That's fine, pet."

Buffy started divvying up the food on the tray then set the empty tray on the table next to theirs as Joyce walked up carrying three drinks in a drink holder. She set the drinks down on the table and took the seat across from Buffy then asked, "Are you doing all right, Spike?"

Spike nodded as he took his lemonade from her. "I'm doing fine, ma'am. Thank you."

Joyce smiled at him, resigning herself to the fact that he was probably going to keep calling her ma'am. He really was a rather polite young man and nothing about him was setting off any motherly alarm bells. She handed Buffy her drink and said, "I'm going to call Faith to find out what has her so worried about Spike, because I'm not seeing anything she should be worried about."

Buffy shook her head and pulled out her phone. "I'll text her. If she's in the middle of something, she won't be able to answer her phone." Buffy sent Faith a text that said, 'Call me,' then laid her phone on the table and unwrapped what looked like a burrito. She nodded at Spike's food. "I've never had the street tacos, so tell me if they're any good."

Spike nodded and unwrapped one of the tacos then took a large bite. He chewed thoughtfully then smiled and nodded. "They're rather tasty, luv. What do you have?"

"Meat and potato burrito." She showed it to him. "They put olés in the burrito, so I basically get a double order. Try one of yours with the cheese."

He dipped one in the small container of cheese then popped it into his mouth. "Mmmm, that is good." He tried one without the cheese and said, "They're good on their own as well. Think I may have found my first favorite food." He nodded to her burrito. "Thought you wanted tacos, pet."

Buffy laughed, "I wanted Fred's tacos, but since I couldn't get those, I got one of my favorite foods. I love olés. Love them. We don't have Taco John's in California, and we Door Dashed food from here like three or four days after we got here, and I've loved them ever since. So if I ever ask you to order me food and you're not sure what to get me, olés are always a safe bet."

"I'll keep that in mind, luv."

Buffy's phone rang and she answered the call then put it on speaker. "Hey, Faith, so why'd you send Mom on a four-hour road trip?"

"Where's Pratt?"

"Sitting next to me eating a taco. You're on speaker, by the way. So what's going on? What is it about that text that has your panties in a wad?"

"Take me off speaker."

"No. Just spit it out."

"Mom? If you're there, take me off speaker."

Spike said, "I'll just take my food outside and eat by the car, Agent Lehane."

He picked up his half-eaten taco and the olés and started to stand, then stopped when Buffy put a hand on his arm. "No. You're staying here and Faith is going to tell all of us what the hell is going on."

Joyce said, "Maybe he should go, Buffy."

"No, he shouldn't, since whatever's going on obviously concerns him." She leaned a little closer to the phone. "What makes you think I wouldn't tell him everything you say anyway, Faith?"

A heavy sigh drifted out of the phone and Faith said, "Fine. Pratt? Why do you want to contact your accomplices on your second day out of prison?"

Spike blinked. "I don't want to contact them, ma'am. I just want to know where they are. Find out if they're in prison where they belong. You're likely aware that Angel was sent to the prison I was transferred to, yeah?"

"Yeah, I know he's there."

"He told me he wasn't sure if they'd been pinched, and I just wanted to know. That's all."

"So you're not trying to get the old gang back together?"

"No, ma'am. I want nothin' to do with either of them."

"And if they turned up on your doorstep, what would you do?"

"Phone the authorities… or rather, have someone else phone the authorities, being that I don't have a mobile."

Buffy asked, "They're not in prison, are they?"

"No, they're not. Their last known location is Denver."

"So you thought that Spike wanted to meet up with these two so they could go on a crime spree or something and that he's stupid enough to ask the FBI for help finding them? Really?"

"I just thought it was a little suspicious that he asked about them so soon after being released. Especially since he'd been housed with the ringleader for two months."

"On the contrary, ma'am, I only spoke with Angel for roughly five minutes, and once they discovered we knew each other, he was moved off my block. I didn't see him again the rest of the time I was there."

Buffy asked, "How long ago were they in Denver?"

"They hit a bank there last week."

Spike asked, "Was anyone injured in the robbery?"

"No. They slipped a note to the teller and only made off with what she had in her drawer. Didn't even show her a weapon."

Spike shook his head, "Seems their modus operandi has changed a bit."

"Do you think they know where Spike is? Could Angel have told them somehow?"

Spike said, "I don't see how, pet. I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I didn't even find out you lot had moved here until after Xan picked me up."

Faith said, "Mr. Harris had to supply his address when he notified the prison that he was picking you up, so it's in your file."

Buffy asked, "Is there any way Angel could've gotten that information and passed it on?"

"Doubtful, but I'd still be on the lookout for them, just in case."

Spike snorted, "Neither one of 'em give a toss about me, so I don't think lookin' me up is high on their to-do list, but if I see 'em, I'll let you know."

"You do that, and Pratt?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Stay out of trouble."

"I plan to, ma'am."

"Good. I've gotta go."

Joyce said, "Call me later, if you get the chance."

"I will, Mom. Love you."

"Love you, too, honey."

"Talk to you later, B.

"Okay. Bye, Faith." Buffy ended the call then looked at Spike. "We're gonna need to get you a phone in case those two show up here."

"I don't think I have enough left for that, so it'll have to wait until I get paid."

"I could cover it."

Spike shook his head. "You've already spent enough on me, luv. It'll keep. I'm not worried about 'em turnin' up, anyway, so there's no need to rush."

"Are you sure?"

"I am, pet. Like I told your sis, they don't give a toss about me. I doubt they've even given me a passing thought since Darla clocked me in the noggin and left me unconscious in that bank."

"Okay, but the first thing you're gonna do with your first check is go get a phone."

"If I have enough, I'll do that straightaway, I promise."

Joyce asked, "Are they dangerous, Spike?"

"Dru isn't. She's bleedin' barking, but she's not particularly dangerous. Darla, though… The only time I've witnessed her hurt someone was when she hit me, but she'd threatened to do bodily harm on several occasions. Angel managed to keep her somewhat reigned in, and now that she's without him… Yeah, I suppose she could be."

Buffy asked, "And you're really not worried about them finding you?"

Spike smirked, "This town's a bit off the beaten path, luv, so even if they were lookin' for me, I doubt they'd even consider lookin' here."

XXXX

Buffy's finger hovered over the button to close the garage door and she asked, "You're staying here tonight, right, Mom?"

"If it's not too much trouble. I could get a room if it is."

Buffy punched the button as she shook her head. "No, it's fine. The couch pulls out."

Spike said, "I'll kip on the sofa, pet. You and your mum can take the bed."

Joyce turned and looked at him. "I'm not going to kick you out of your bed, Spike."

"I've not actually been in it yet, so you won't be kickin' me out."

"Didn't you get here late last night? Where did you sleep?"

"On the floor."

"Why?"

"It's a prison thing, Mom. I wasn't here when he got here, so he slept on the floor because he hadn't been invited to use the furniture."

"And I'll be just fine kippin' on the sofa so you two ladies can have the bed."

"I'm sleeping wherever you are, so if you're on the couch, then I will be, too."

Joyce said in an exasperated tone, "Oh good lord. I'll sleep on the couch and you two will sleep in your bed."

Buffy laughed, "Good lord? When did you start saying that?"

"Rupert says it all the time. Guess I'm just used to hearing it."

"It sounds weird coming from you." She looked at Spike, "Say, 'oh good lord' like you're just done with everybody's crap."

Spike blinked then said, "Oh good lord," in the same exasperated tone Joyce had used.

Buffy motioned to him and said, "See? You need the accent to make it sound right."

Spike laughed and asked, "I'm assuming Mr. Giles is English?"

Buffy nodded. "Yep." She opened her door and Spike quickly got out to open Joyce's door.

They started up the stairs to the apartment and Joyce said, "I'd like to take a shower, if that's all right."

"That's fine."

"Do I need to wait until you've showered?"

"No. Spike and I took one this morning, and we haven't done anything yet to make us need another shower, so we're good."

Spike was blushing furiously as they stepped into the apartment and mumbled something about changing clothes as he toed his boots off, then he hurried into the bedroom, only blushing to the roots of his hair when he flipped the light on and saw the dresser he'd been leaning against before they'd gone to eat.

Joyce leaned close to Buffy and said, "He gets embarrassed easily, doesn't he?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. I think it's cute, but I should probably try to reign in my mouth a little, especially about stuff having anything remotely to do with sex."

"So you two… in the shower?"

"No, not yet, but you knowing that we were naked together just wigs him out, I guess, and you knowing what I did before we went to get food adds to the wiggage."

"I don't know exactly what you did, but I assume it was something sexual, considering how much he was blushing when you came downstairs."

"I blew him."

"Buffy!"

"What? I'm an adult and so is he. And so are you, Mrs. Sex on a Police Car. You do realize I've had sex before, right? And that Spike's isn't the first dick I've had in my mouth?"

Spike slid out of his jacket as he walked over to the closet then stood looking for a place to put it. He wasn't about to go back out to the living room to hang it up until he was sure the conversation had moved on to something other than Buffy sucking him off. Having to face Joyce while the visual was still fresh in her mind of his cock in her daughter's mouth would likely cause him to perish on the spot from complete mortification.

He draped the jacket over the closet door then stripped out of his jeans and hoodie, putting them neatly away in the closet. Leaving the briefs on that he'd donned before going for tacos, he pulled on a pair of sweats then sat on the floor in front of the nightstand and hooked his bag out from underneath it. He pulled out one notebook and a pencil then stuffed the bag back under the nightstand and scooted back to lean against the wall, opening the notebook to a blank page.

He started sketching as he listened to the low murmurs of conversation and activity in the living room. He heard the shower turn on in the bathroom and looked up when Buffy entered the bedroom. She walked over and sat down beside him. "Whatcha drawing?"

"Just a landscape."

Buffy looked at the picture then pointed to something. "Is that an antelope?"

Spike chuckled, "Yeah."

Buffy nudged him with her shoulder. "You can sit on the bed, you know. Sit on it, sleep in it, roll around on it, jump on it, whatever you want."

He looked over at the bed then shrugged. "Now I can. Couldn't before."

"Is there anything else I need to tell you that you can use? How about this – Spike, you can sit on, stand on, lay on, or otherwise use every piece of furniture in this apartment."

Spike chuckled, "All right, luv."

Buffy nodded toward the kitchen. "You want some tea before we go to bed?"

"Yeah, I could do with a cuppa." Spike closed his notebook and leaned forward, hooking his bag out from under the nightstand. He put the notebook and pencil into the bag then started pushing it back under the nightstand.

"Why's all your stuff still in that bag?"

He stopped pushing the bag and looked over at her. "Didn't know where you wanted me to keep my things, so I stashed them somewhere out of the way."

"You can put them wherever you want. You live here, Spike." She pointed at the nightstand. "That's empty, so you can put stuff in there," she pointed at the dresser, "there's a couple empty drawers in that," she waved at the bedroom door, "or you can put stuff on the bookshelf, or in the kitchen cabinets, or the fridge, or on the breakfast table, or on the table by the couch, wherever makes sense to you. You can unpack. Move in. Get comfortable. Nest."

Spike laughed, "All right. I'll unpack and do some 'nesting' tomorrow." He glanced toward the bathroom. "Is your mum going to want some tea as well?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know, but you can ask her." At Spike's blush, Buffy said, "You don't have to be embarrassed that she knows we've done sexual things, Spike. We're hopefully going to be together for a long time, so you're probably going to have to talk to my mother at some point."

"I know, luv, it's just…"

"I'll stop giving her details, okay? She'll know we're having sex, but I won't tell her exactly what we do. Will that help?"

"I suppose it will, yeah."

Buffy got to her feet then reached down and took his hand. "Okay. Come show me how to make tea."

Spike stood and they started out to the kitchen. "Why do you want to learn how to make tea?"

"You're English, and my soon-to-be stepdad is also English, so I think it's something I should probably know how to do."

"You don't have to make my tea, pet. I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself."

"I know, but if you get home from work and you're really tired or something, I'd like to know how to do it so I can have it ready when you get out of the shower."

They'd reached the kitchen and Spike turned Buffy to face him then tentatively reached up to cup her face. He gently kissed her then said quietly, "Thank you, kitten. That would be wonderful."

She wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "Do that again."

He smiled then pressed his lips to hers, sliding one hand around to the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. They broke apart at a quiet cough from the living room and looked over to see Joyce smiling at them.

Spike dropped his hands and took a step away from Buffy then motioned to the kettle. "Would you like some tea, ma'am?"

Buffy said, "He's going to show me how to make it."

Joyce nodded and sat down on one of the stools by the island. "I'd love a cup of tea." She chuckled, "Rupert told me the only reason he proposed was because I'd finally learned how to 'make a proper cuppa.'"

Spike frowned slightly, "Making tea properly is important, ma'am, but I don't feel like it should be the basis of a relationship."

Joyce laughed. "It's not. We've been together for years, but he was skittish about moving in with me because we weren't married, so we're getting married."

Buffy asked, "Is he going to wait to move in until after the wedding?"

Joyce laughed again and shook her head. "He's practically moved in already. Has been for a while, but he keeps paying rent on his mostly empty apartment to seem 'proper' or what have you. His lease is up in a few months, and he just won't renew it."

Spike nodded vaguely then turned to the counter, suddenly realizing that he was being completely improper by cohabitating with a woman he wasn't married to. Buffy didn't seem to be terribly interested in marriage; at least she'd given no indication that that's where this was headed… she liked him, to be sure, but she'd not expressed any deeper feelings for him, and they hadn't been together very long… but she'd said that hopefully they'd be together for a long time, so…

Buffy's hand slipping under his shirt to caress his back startled him out of his thoughts and he turned to her, forcing a smile onto his face. "All right, pet. Let's show you how to make tea."

He talked her through all the steps, and they took their steaming cups of tea into the living room. Joyce reclined on the pull-out bed and Spike sat down in the chair after quickly reminding himself that Buffy had told him he could. She crawled into his lap and said, "We'll have to put a table on the other side of the chair, too, since you're left-handed."

He took a sip of tea then set the cup on the table on the right-hand side of the chair. "It's fine, luv. I'll manage."

Joyce asked, "So, I know you were in the prison Buffy worked in, but…" she waved at the two of them snuggled up in the chair, "how did this happen?"

Buffy said, "Spike got hurt and ended up in the infirmary. We got to talking and found out we liked each other, and there you go."

"Are you planning to get married?"

Spike tensed as he waited for Buffy's response. She shrugged. "We haven't really been together long enough to think about that yet. We need to get to know each other, and our relationship started under intense circumstances, so we need to find out if we work when things are calm and boring, and if we do, then yeah, we'll probably get married eventually." She lifted her head from Spike's shoulder and looked at him. "If you want to."

Spike cleared his throat quietly then said, "If you feel I'm worthy of keepin' around once we've gotten to know each other, then yes, I'll marry you, luv."

"It's not all my decision, Spike. You have to want to keep me around, too."

"Of course I want to, but I'm fully cognizant of how bloody lucky I am that you've even considered me as a partner, considerin' how bleedin' far out of my league you are, so I'm going to do my best to try to be the man you deserve."

Buffy sat up and looked at him sternly. "You already are the man I deserve, you dope. And what leagues? There's no leagues. Is it because I went to college, and you didn't? So what? Or that you did time? Another big 'so what' to that one. You're a decent guy, Spike, and I feel just as lucky as you do that you're here with me."

Spike swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and dropped his gaze to her shoulder. "It's just…"

Buffy hooked a finger under his chin and raised his gaze to hers, "It's just what?"

Spike swallowed hard and said quietly, "I've not…" he cut his eyes to Joyce, then whispered, "What if I can't… That's an important part of a successful relationship, and if I can't… then…"

Buffy leaned in for a quick kiss then said, "Drink your tea so we can go to bed. We'll talk about it more later." She snuggled back down into Spike and looked at her mother. "Since you're here now, are you still going to come through on Friday?"

Joyce shook her head, "No. I'll head back to Billings in the morning for the last few days of the show then just fly back to California on Friday."

"Okay. And you're convinced that Spike's not dangerous so there won't be any more surprise inspections?"

Joyce smiled. "No more surprise visits. I would like to bring Rupert out to meet him, though, since I appear to be gaining a son."

Spike nearly choked on the sip of tea he'd just taken and sputtered, "Son, ma'am?"

Joyce turned a warm smile on him. "Yes. You're in a committed relationship with my daughter, so I think of you as a son, Spike." She smirked, "So maybe you can transition from calling me ma'am to calling me mom."

Spike blinked back sudden tears as Buffy squeezed him with the arm she had wrapped around his middle, then he said quietly, "I'd like that."