"My Church offers no absolutes.

She tells me, 'Worship in the bedroom.'

The only heaven I'll be sent to

Is when I'm alone with you

I was born sick,

But I love it

Command me to be well

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Take me to church

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies

I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife

Offer me that deathless death

Good God, let me give you my life

If I'm a pagan of the good times

My lover's the sunlight

To keep the Goddess on my side

She demands a sacrifice"

~Hozier (Ed Sheeran's cover version)~

Chapter 16 – Take Me To Church

Buffy couldn't resist tapping one foot to the beat, head bopping along to the song coming from the apartment across Spike's.

"I apologize on behalf of my neighbor," Spike said, as they came up to the landing of his floor. "He's a little hard of hearing so every sound that comes out of his apartment is like a live concert."

Buffy giggled, "At least the music is good."

"Ever heard this song before?"

"No, but I like what I'm hearing so far."

With a slight tinge of bitterness in his tone, he said, "Songs like that almost make me wish I was better with my words."

"Why would you say that?"

"I've never been particularly talented with flowery words and the like."

Buffy raised her eyebrows in surprise, "I find that extremely hard to believe."

He gave a wry smile and shrugged casually, "It's what I've been told, luv."

"Oh pish posh, I wouldn't buy into that if I were you. They're probably just jealous of your talent."

"Yeah, right." He sighed, while trying to get the keys out from his pocket, "I highly doubt that, but thanks for believing in me."

"Hey, trust me. I know talent when I see it."

With that, Spike raised an arrogant eyebrow and smirked, "Indeed, that does explain why you're with me."

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Buffy warned with a scowl, "Please don't make me punch you in the nose."

He broke into a laugh, "Christ, you're such a hard arse, you know that?"

"I believe you mean to say it's a firm ass," she blurted without thinking.

Spike raked his gaze down her body as he ran his tongue along his upper teeth, "Oh yes, and a very fine one at that."

Blushing beet red, Buffy cleared her throat nervously and attempted to divert his attention from her rear end, "So, umm, what's this song about anyway?"

"You're not just saying that to change the subject, are you?" He smirked.

"No!" She protested fiercely, and then admitted after a beat, "Okay maybe a little, but I actually would like to know what it is about."

He regarded her for a few moments and seeing that she was sincere, replied in a serious manner, "To me, it's essentially about being able to make a choice and freely be in a relationship with someone, without the fear of shame or hate hanging over them."

"Why would anybody want to do that to two people who love each other?"

"Because, you see, there are those who may condemn you, shame you, hell, even beat you to an inch of your life as they try and convince you that what you feel is dirty and wrong," he paused for a second, gathering his thoughts before continuing, "but the thing is, you should never waver.

"Don't ever fear or feel ashamed to be with that person because at the end of the day, you know that there is something is tangible and real there. And that act of love and every waking second with this person only reaffirms that, so no set of doctrine or self-righteous group of arseholes should ever have the right to judge you for that."

Combined with the heat of his smoldering gaze, Buffy stood stunned and rooted to the spot. She gulped in nervousness, wondering if she was actually ready for the whole platinum-blond-rock-god-that-is-Spike experience. If he was this passionate about a song, then she couldn't even begin to imagine what the sex would be like!

Finally, exhaling a breath she didn't even know she was holding, all she could manage was, "Sweet baby Jesus."

"Yeah." He grinned sheepishly, before finally opening the door to his apartment, "Sorry about that. I get too carried away sometimes. Anyway, come on in."

With her mind still reeling on the endless possibilities of what shower sex with Spike could be like, she looked at him blankly, "Huh?"

"Would you like to come in or do you prefer to stand there all night till the pint dries off?"

She made an annoyed expression and strode into his apartment bravely, recalling that the last time she was here, she could barely remember what happened other than the coffee and toast he made for her. She was thankful that at least on this occasion, the alcohol was on her, and not in her bloodstream, intoxicating her memory and judgment.

"You can remove your shoes and leave it on the rack there to dry." Spike said, pointing to the small wooden rack by the doorway that was filled with a variety of shoes that were mostly boots.

She hadn't noticed it before but he had already removed his boots and was walking about barefoot. As her gaze swept back up, it was also the first time tonight that she noticed how the color of his dark gray shirt really brought out the blue in his eyes. Not that she would ever admit it to his face, but along with his hip hugging black jeans, she thought he'd never looked sexier.

When he caught her staring, Buffy hurriedly looked away and focused all her concentration on removing her heels, placing it neatly on an empty spot along the top of the rack. And since there was no coat rack to be found, she shrugged his leather jacket off, and draped it neatly over a nearby armchair.

As she made her way into the middle of his living room, Spike began to follow her trail. Silently, he watched her assess his small apartment. For the most part, there was a cozy feel about the place even though the furnishings were mostly modern in style.

When it seemed that she had seen her fill of scrutinizing her surroundings, he said, "Since you're sober this time, would you like me to give you the grand tour later? Though I reckon it'd probably be a good idea to get you cleaned up and changed into something drier before we do that."

She wasn't sure why, but Buffy suddenly felt rather shy and self-conscious about the whole thing. It had been a long time since she found herself in such a situation. And while the thought of finally being alone with a boy she wanted to shag was great in theory, the reality of the situation caused a flood of fears about what would and could happen. Despite the potential horrifying scenarios that flashed across her mind, she knew this wasn't the time for it. Pushing all doubts aside, she replied as calmly as she could, "Yeah, a shower would be nice." And it certainly would be nicer if we took it together!

"Just wait here," he said, and disappeared into another room. A while later he returned with a fresh bath towel and a bundle of clothes.

"The tee shirt is an old one, so I hope you don't mind. And this is a brand new pair of jogging shorts I got last Christmas from a friend who obviously doesn't know me at all."

"You don't jog?"

"Well, let's just say that I don't really need shorts for the kind of exercises I do." He winked cheekily.

Buffy gulped and muttered something incoherently as she grabbed the bundle from him and walked off towards his kitchen.

"The bathroom is on the other side, luv! It's the first door on the right!" He called out, chuckling at how flustered she had become as she turned around to head in the opposite direction, zooming past him to get to her destination.

Once in the bathroom, Buffy took a few deep breaths to calm herself as she leaned against the door. When she was convinced that she wasn't about to hyperventilate, she went over by the sink to take a look at the mirror that hung above it.

Amazed that the glass hadn't cracked at her reflection, she nearly shrieked in horror at the sorry sight peering back at her. To say that she bore a resemblance to a train wreck in her present state would be an understatement.

The loosely held chignon that was barely holding her hair together stood more like a bird's nest as strands and clumps of hair stuck out all over the place. Her eyeliner on one side had smudged so badly that it seemed like she had been punched in the eye. And last but certainly not least, the beer stains on her dress appeared as if someone had splattered piss all over her upper body.

Gingerly, she removed her all her clothes and climbed into the bath tub to use the shower. She squeezed out a few giant dollops of his shower gel and shampoo and cleaned up as best as she could. After a good half an hour later, she came out smelling minty and fresh, dressed in the clothes he'd given her with the towel wrapped over her head.

Spike had been watching a taped recording of a concert on his flat screen TV when she finally emerged. The sight of her without the makeup, with her wet hair enveloped in his towel and dressed in his old tee shirt made his heart stop for a second. Aside from looking younger and absolutely adorable, she looked like she was completely his.

Compared to the last woman he had once devoted his life to, Dru would've never been caught dead in any of his clothes, much less without her hair being all straight and flawless. It always had to be a dark perfection for her. Buffy, on the other hand, didn't really seem to give a hoot that she wasn't dressed to the nines or even had any lipstick on. And the fact that not only was she comfortable in her own skin, but in his presence as well, only further drove that attraction he had for her.

For the first time, he started to wonder if this was how most regular people were in relationships. His affair with Dru had been anything but regular, and it made him realize now what he was missing all this time. While he had been her knight and protector, he always had the feeling that they were emotionally disconnected, never truly on the same page. He tried as hard as he could to be closer to her but there was always something distant and aloof between them. And on some level, he suspected that Dru knew that too and that was probably the real reason why she cheated on him in the first place.

With Buffy though, even when he was just starting to get to know her on their first date, there was already an unfamiliar but oddly wonderful feeling of being at ease and content when he was with her. And that innate sense of closeness and natural trust between them was certainly something that he wanted more of.

"Umm," Buffy said, interrupting his thoughts. "I couldn't find a hair dryer, so…" She pointed at her makeshift turban, looking embarrassed.

"Actually you don't need one, really. I think it looks cute."

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him.

"Alright, take it easy. Bloody hell, if looks could kill."

"Trust me, that saying's going to be literal if you don't get me a hair dryer soon."

"I don't know, pet. I personally think that crazy hair do you had after the fight was a pretty spot-on depiction of the term."

He didn't think it was possible, but she managed to narrow her eyes at him even further.

Not wanting to stretch his luck, he quickly added, "Right. Be right back with that hair dryer."

When he passed her the hair dryer, he asked for her dress at the same time. She wasn't sure what he could possibly want with it, but she went back to the bathroom and handed it over anyway, adding gloomily, "It looks diseased."

Spike laughed, "You can dry your hair in my room and I'll see if I can fix this."

While he took the dress with him into the kitchen, she decided that the hair drying could wait as she followed him. Watching from the doorway, she was curious to see what he would do with it.

She wasn't sure what was going on, but from the looks of it, it seemed like he knew how to somehow magically fix her diseased dress. Buffy observed in fascination as he pulled out several items from various places in the small kitchen, putting it all at one end of the kitchen counter. Adding cold water with some other liquids and powder into a large mixing bowl, he dipped her dress into it once the concoction was well mixed together, letting the chemicals do their job of cleansing her dress.

If anyone had told her before tonight that Spike was capable of keeping a household clean, she would have laughed her head off and called that person an idiot. But as it were, there he stood in front of her, performing some miracle on her dress, looking every bit the part of a domestic god. And strangely, she found herself feeling quite turned on by the whole scene.

"Where did you learn that?" She asked.

"From an old lady who used to live a floor below me back in London," Spike replied, as he washed his hands at the kitchen sink. "Given the kinds of places where I usually spend my time, you'll find that such life tips come in really handy, especially when you have a limited wardrobe budget."

She stepped towards him just as he turned away from the sink to face her.

Before he could say another word, Buffy leaned forward on tiptoes and threw her arms around his neck to kiss him. Her sudden spontaneity took him by surprise but he wasn't going to discourage her from continuing. One arm encircled her waist while the other cradled the side of her face as their kiss deepened. Buffy made soft mewling noises as his body pressed hard against her in response. The towel wrapped over her head came loose and her damp hair fell around their faces.

He broke their kiss for a second to look at her. The wild blonde waves framed her delicate features, and that look in her hazel green eyes was now darkened with a hunger. She was beautiful, feral and fierce, and he suspected that his own eyes mirrored the same desire. He turned them over so that she was against the counter and easily lifted her up so that she was sitting on it.

Watching her looking down at him like a goddess, Spike told himself that all this was surely too good to be true. And as much as he wanted to take her right there in the kitchen, he knew that she deserved better and their first time should be a slow and sensual experience. Almost like how he would treat a fine single malt scotch whiskey when he could afford it, indulging in every taste and moment so it could be savored to its fullest.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, running a hand through her hair to hold it back from her face.

She bit her lower lip and nodded before questioning him as well, "What about you?"

"I wasn't kidding when I said I was counting on you to make me pay dearly."

The comment and memory put a blush to her cheeks, but she didn't look away. Instead she pulled at his shirt and timidly asked, "How about we start by taking this off?"

His eyes were alight with mischief as he answered, "With great pleasure."

Her fingers worked on those buttons at the speed of light and it was tossed aside promptly. She grinned in approval and ran her hands down his bare chest, licking her lips in anticipation. At the same time, Spike's hands had found their way under his old tee shirt and as they traveled up along her sides, they stopped, just below her breasts.

"There's no turning back once we start, luv," He warned for the final time.

She bent her head down to kiss him in reply, only to gasp in shock when he started massaging her breasts gently, tweaking her sensitive nipples until they were stiff peaks. "Oh, God!" She choked in between kisses, unable to stop the slight shiver that ran down her spine. Feeling the heat spread and travel downwards like wildfire, she prayed that the shorts weren't already soaked at this point.

"Lean forward and put both your arms around my shoulders. Make sure you hold onto me and don't let go," he instructed.

She complied and once he felt her arms around him were secure, he pulled her thighs forward and literally lifted her off her butt as he carried her away from the counter. She conceded a tiny yelp of surprise, but held on tighter, wrapping her legs around his waist as he led them out the kitchen.