Title: Vamp for Rent 8/18
Author: Forsaken2003
Pairing: S/X
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon
Comments: Always welcomed
Summary: After Anya dumped Xander he has become the fifth wheel. The girls start to notice he isn't hanging out with the gang as much so Buffy and Willow decide to do something about it.
Warnings/Spoilers: Season 5 No Dawn, No Anya.
Beta'd by: My Sister
Note: One chapter each week.
Part Eight
Spike was in his bed, his head buried under his pillow when he heard the door open from upstairs. With a groan Spike threw the blankets off his naked body and pulled on his signature black jeans and a black t-shirt before going upstairs. As much as he wanted it to be Xander he knew it couldn't be. He'd still be at work.
Climbing the ladder and the spell of musty books. "Watcher."
"Spike."
Spike walked passed Giles to get some blood. "To what do I owe this un-pleasure?"
"I want to talk about Xander," Giles said getting straight to the point.
While Xander was Spike's favourite topic he felt like Giles was going to change that. "What about him?"
"I don't know why it's come to be that you two are suddenly friends but... thank you."
Spike almost spit his blood out. "What?"
"Xander loves the girls but it's been good for him to have a male companion. He hasn't had that since Jesse."
While Spike didn't know much about Jesse he knew how much he had meant to Xander. He had pictures of him in the apartment. "You act as if there hadn't been others that could have stepped up. Wolf boy, soldier boy... you."
"I beg your pardon?" Giles tried not to get defensive.
"You've known him as long as you've known Buffy and Willow and yet you have almost no relationship with him." It doesn't take a genius to see that.
Giles couldn't believe the audacity of Spike right now. Here he was being appreciative of Spike and all he got what attacked for no reason. "With all due respect, Spike you don't know what you are talking about."
"Really? So you spend equal one on one time with him as you do Buffy and Willow?" Spike wasn't going to let Giles live in denial. Maybe Xander lived in denial about it as well but he shouldn't have to.
"Well now that's entirely different. Both Buffy and Willow need training." Giles reasoning was accurate. If Buffy didn't keep up her training then one night she would go out to find a new demon and she wouldn't come back. And with Willow she had no idea just how strong she could be and without his guidance things could get horrible. End of the world horrible.
Spike raised an eyebrow. "And then we have Tara who is a wiccan as well and Riley who has been trained in hand to hand combat by the military itself. The only one who has no experience in anything is who?" Giles opened his mouth to somehow stop the attack. "Have you ever sat him down and asked him if there was something he'd want to learn? How to help him grow into more of a responsible role for the group? You could have offered to try to teach him a different language so that he could help more during research. The boy barely has any confidence and you aren't helping."
Guilt started to fill Giles. Spike was absolutely correct in his observation and Giles was too blind to actually see how he treated Xander. "I can't believe I'm saying this but you're right. I have been keeping Xander at arms length. We just have so little in common."
"So if you had a kid of your own and you had nothing in common with them you'd just ignore them?" Spike asked.
"Of course not. I would try to take an interest in what they like." It dawned on Giles just what Spike was saying. Then he remembered all the times Xander asked him questions about England or his family and random demons in books but Giles always dismissed him. All Xander was trying to do was bond and Giles took it as Xander trying to find away to get out of research. He was such a fool. "Thank you, Spike. I've been incredibly blind."
Staring at Giles, Spike questioned, "so what are you going to do about it?"
"I am going to take your advise and offer to teach Xander a new language. I have so many books in Romanian and I'm the only one who can read it. We waste so much time when only one of us can read it. With Xander's help maybe we could save an extra life."
Honestly Spike couldn't care less about someone else. He cared about Xander being taken seriously and knowing his own worth. It took Spike too long to see that and he wouldn't let the others keep making the same mistake. He stepped closer to Giles to the point of being in his face. "Just because he's a slow learner doesn't mean he's stupid. Have some patience."
Giles had never seen Spike so protective of anyone except for Drusilla. It than clicked. "Good Lord. You're in love with him."
Spike backed away from Giles as if holy water had been thrown at him and turned his back on him. "Don't know what you're talking about, watcher."
"How had I not seen it sooner?" Giles asked.
"Because you don't pay attention to either one of us." Spike wanted to make Giles feel bad but unintentionally he had also just outed himself.
That stung. Sure Giles didn't care much for Spike but Xander he did care for him greatly even if he was horrible at showing it. "I don't like it."
"Didn't say I did either, did I?"
"I don't like it," Giles repeated himself. "But if Xander somehow feels the same way I am not going to voice my disapproval. I've failed Xander as a mentor and if I want to do better I have to let him make his own decisions without fearing what we may think."
It was weird sort of getting Giles's approval. "Thanks, watcher. Nothing's going to happen though, right? Xander's never going to see me as anymore than a friend." A paid friend.
"How about we stop assuming things about him, shall we?"
Spike was a coward when it came to his feelings. He needed time to think. "I'm not going to the Magic Box tonight."
"Are you really going to hide from Xander?" Giles inquired.
"Today yes." He needed to patrol alone and get his head on straight.