Please Don't Leave Me
Chapter Four
Buffy stirred a little, her eyes opening slowly. She quickly closed one eye against the bright light streaming through the curtains. She took a moment to steady herself before sitting up. She glanced beside her and found Spike gone.
The previous night came back to her in flashes. She remembered drinking and dancing and playing pool with one of Spike's demon friends. Then the realization hit her; she remembered puking over his shoes and him bringing her home and eventually falling asleep with her head on his chest.
'Did we? No, she was still clothed… Thank God!' She thought
A gentle knock at the door snapped her out of her thoughts. "Come in," she called out, pulling the sheets back up to her neck.
Dawn opened the door and poked her head around it. "Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked.
"Oh you know, nauseous." Buffy shrugged. "And kind of embarrassed… I think I owe Spike a new pair of Docs."
Dawn stifled a giggle. "You need anything before I head off to school?"
Buffy said, "I'm good, thank you." She added, "Have a great day!"
Dawn nodded and closed the door behind her.
Buffy threw the sheets back and got out of bed. Once on her feet, the room swayed almost causing her to lose balance; she steadied herself and headed towards the bathroom. Buffy was more aware of her cracking headache than the layer of dehydrated saliva that coated her cracked lips.
Once in the bathroom, she stood in front of the mirror and examined her reflection. "Eww," she groaned, turning on the water for a shower.
She pulled her shirt over her head and shimmied out of her pants and underwear. She stepped into the shower, letting the warm water cascade around her. She started to feel woozy, so she sat in a heap at the bottom of the shower.
XXXXX
Buffy had managed to drag herself out of the shower and dressed for the day. She padded downstairs and into the kitchen.
The kitchen island was littered with half-eaten toast, glasses of orange juice, and cereal boxes. As Buffy began cleaning up the mess, she grunted in dismay.
Spike burst through the door his body covered in a blanket that was currently alight. He stamped on the blanket extinguishing the flames. He composed himself for a moment
"Morning," he said
"Hey"
"How are you feeling this morning?" He asked
"A little better…I'm sorry about last night." She babbled.
Spike shrugged. "No worries, Luv."
"I won't make a habit of it… I mean, wow, talk about embarrassing." said Buffy.
"It's fine; I'm sorry I stayed... It was stupid of me" he told her.
Buffy's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I was talking about my vomit on your boots."
There was an awkward silence.
"Thank you for getting me home and staying with me," she smiled gratefully.
"You're welcome," he said uneasily.
She said, "It was the first night since I got back that I haven't had nightmares."
He stammered, "I'm glad I could help."
"You did"
They were interrupted by the telephone ringing "I should get that" she told him
"Hello?" She said picking up the receiver. Her eyes grew wide and she shifted uncomfortably as she continued her conversation.
"Angel" She whispered his name softly.
Spike's mood instantly changed upon hearing the other vampire's name. He stood silently as he listened to Buffy's voice, which was tinged with pain. He remembered what he had once told her.
"You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love 'til it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other until it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood - blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."
He was right, of course. He knew that no matter how much she would try to deny it or gloss over it, Buffy loved Angel, still, even after all this time.
His train of thought was broken when Buffy exchanged goodbyes and placed the phone back.
There was a moment of silence; neither one of them wanted to make the other uncomfortable.
"So…" Buffy began "That was Angel."
Spike sighed. "I figured."
She said, "He wants me to go see him."
'Was she asking for permission or was she telling him that was her plan?' he wondered to himself.
He blurted out, "I can drive you."
"Oh… uh, that's okay," she smiled gratefully. "We're meeting in the middle, so…I should go."
He shrugged. "Right."
"But you can stay here, I mean you're kind stuck away with the sun…" she told him.
"Thanks ever so"
"Okay... so I should be back by tomorrow, and I'll stop by and we can patrol tomorrow night" she asked.
"Sure," he said flatly.
"Okay... I'll just..." Buffy made her exit quickly.
Spike stood in the kitchen, completely deflated.
XXXXXX
It had been a few days since Buffy had returned from her meeting with Angel. Spike stewed in his silent rage. Buffy and Spike were just friends; nothing more, he couldn't very well tell her not to go and see Angel, could he?
He had no idea why he was really angry about them being together. Apart from the pang of jealousy he would feel whenever he thought of them kissing or of Angel holding her.
He had been avoiding her, disappearing from his crypt as soon as the sun went down. He had hoped to run into her at some point… 'maybe she's packed up and moved to LA' he thought.
He really had to get his jealous vampire crap under control.
XXXXXX
The sun had just set and Spike made his move as soon as he opened the door he was confronted with Buffy.
There was a slight look of relief on her face as he opened it. She had been worried when she returned from her meeting with Angel to find that Spike wasn't anywhere to be found. Part of her worried he had got himself in to trouble but Tara had said she ran into him at The Bronze last night.
"Slayer" Spike said eventually
"Spike…" she said softly "I was worried, you were a no show for patrolling and I feel like you've been avoiding me"
"Just busy is all" he said coldly
Buffy nodded "Okay…"
"Is that it? I'm on my way out" he told her
Buffy stepped aside and let him past her.
"Is this about me going to see Angel?" She called after him
Spike stopped and turned back to face her.
"Nothing happened" she told him "We talked that's all… and I don't know why I'm explaining myself to you!"
"Then don't" he shrugged
"You're a jerk… I'm trying to-" she stopped herself "I thought we were friends?"
Spike sighed heavily "I want to be your friend Slayer… but I'm completely in love with you"
"I know" she replied softly
She felt the guilt rise up inside her. She knew of his feelings, he chained her up and told her himself. But that seemed like a lifetime ago, in fact it kind of was. She died and come back since then and he was the only person she could stand to be around.
"I'm just not sure I'm the best person you should be around. The Watcher is back, you should lean on him" said Spike
"Spike" she shook her head.
He said, "I'll see you around," and then stomped off.
XXXXXX
The next week flew by, she hadn't seen him much. She caught a flash of leather in the cemetery whilst she was fighting a fledgling A few nights ago but that was it.
Buffy had somehow been roped into helping out at The Magic Box for their Halloween extravaganza.
Anya skated through the store "Um, everything on this table's half off. Including the table" she told a crowd of customers
"Buy one eyeball, get the second one free!" Anya told another customer
Giles was working the cash register, wearing a wizard robe. Xander who was dressed as a pirate was talking to some children.
Dawn walks across the store, she hadn't dressed up for Halloween. She has been convinced by Janice that they were too old to be playing dress up this year
"So what are you supposed to be?" Dawn asked Anya
"An angel" said Anya, refilling a candy bowl
"Oh. Shouldn't you have wings?"
"Oh no, this is a special kind of angel called a Charlie. We don't have wings, we just skate around with perfect hair fighting crime. Where's your costume?" Anya asked
"Like I'm six years old? Halloween's so lame" Dawn rolled her eyes
"But you get to dress up, and play games! Xander's gonna teach me a new one after work called Shiver Me Timbers. Ever play?"
Tara appeared just in time to hear their conversation and intervened "Uh, Dawn, Willow could use some help in magical texts"
"I'm all over it" Dawn grinned and walked away
"How 'bout you, ever play Shiver Me Timbers?" Anya asked Tara
"I'm not really much for the timber" Tara shrugged
Giles was busily ringing up a customer at the cash register. There's was a long line of other customers waiting.
"What happened to Xander?" asked Buffy coming to help
"He kept poking me with his hook I sent him over to charmed objects. With any luck he'll poke the wrong one and end up in an alternative dimension inhabited by a 50-foot Giles that squishes annoying teeny pirates" said Giles
"Aren't you glad you came back for Halloween" Buffy laughed
Giles rolled his eyes ignoring her question "We've got a ton of bagging to do here"
"Actually, You know, maybe I should patrol" she whispered
"Buffy, you've been patrolling every night this week. Besides, it's Halloween, it's the one time of the year that supernatural threats give it a well-deserved rest. As should you" he told her
"Yeah, what about costumes that take over your personality? Or, wee little Irish fear-demon-y thingies?" She reminded him
"Yes, well, if anything calamitous should happen, history suggests it'll happen to one of us" he said handing a customer some change
"Right, exactly, so I should patrol to avoid any of that-" Giles shoved an item in her hand "and I'm bagging" she groaned
XXXXXXX
The gang were sat around The Magic Box, all of them exhausted. The customers had long gone andAnya had just finished thanking them all for helping her acquire heaps of money.
Buffy sat next to Xander on the steps. Judging his costume "You know, if you had a real peg leg, you wouldn't just have a lame costume, you'd actually be lame. Which is completely different"
Xander was listening to her; he's stared intently at Anya.
Anya and Dawn were behind the counter, dancing
"You do this every night?" Dawn smiled
"Every time I close out the cash register. The dance of capitalist superiority" Anya danced
"I'm gonna marry that girl" said Xander softly
"What?! She's fifteen and my sister, so don't ev-" the realisation set in "Oh"
"Hey, everybody" Xander gets to his feet "Can I, um ... uh ... there's something Anya and I ... wanna tell you"
He walked over to the counter. Anya came to his side, holding a stack of money.
"Now?" She asked him quietly
"Now" he smiled as he put his arm around Anya's shoulders
"We're getting married" said Xander
"Oh my god" Dawn smiled brightly
The gang congratulated the couple and decided they would have a party back at Buffy's to celebrate.
XXXXXX
The party had been in full swing for a while; they had overheard a heated discussion about party decorations and Willow's magic use between the two witches.
All had calmed down a little but the tension between Willow and Tara was palpable. It wasn't a secret that Tara along with a few other members of the Scoobies thought that Willow was using too much magic.
"See you guys tomorrow?" said Dawn picking up her bag and starting to leave
"Whoa!" said Buffy grabbing Dawn's arm "Tomorrow?"
"Yeah. I'm sleeping over at Janice's, remember?"
"That's tonight?" Buffy had forgot
"No. It's on the other Halloween" Dawn rolled her eyes "Come on, you said I could"
"Uh ... Well ... I know I did, it's just, you know, now with Xander's party, I-" Buffy babbled
"Ah, we're good. But you have to get us some extra gifts for our reception" said Xander
"Yes please" Anya grinned
"I-I don't know. Giles?" Buffy turned to her Watcher
"Uh, it's really not up to me" said Giles
"Come on. It's four blocks away, I'll walk straight over. Not like I'm gonna be roaming the streets. Please?" pouted Dawn
Buffy had relented and let her go. All the talk about love and happiness made Buffy a little uncomfortable. She never saw a future like that for herself. But this is how it's supposed to be, ever since her breakup with Riley, she realized she would never be a "normal girl." She wouldn't get married or have children; it was too dangerous. She couldn't put a spouse or child through the craziness of her life.
After a quick briefing with Xander on the front porch she slipped out, excusing herself to go 'patrol'.
She came across an ambulance loading a patient with neck trauma 'So much for a night off' she thought to herself
She found herself hightailing it to Spike's crypt for some back up. She pushed the crypt door open "Get your gear together. We need to..."
She stops as she realised Spike was nowhere to be seen. The TV was on, playing a black-and-white horror movie.
Buffy looked around.
"Spike?"
"You know..."
Buffy jumped and turned to find him right behind her.
"...in civilized cultures, that's called trespassing" he told her
"Good thing you're uncivilized. We got trouble"
"Giles found you?" He asked
Buffy frowned "Giles? No. Was he looking for me?"
"Yeah, it's Dawn"
"Dawn?" She asked "Why, what happened?"
"No, it's okay, Giles was by here earlier looking for you. Dawn and her little friend pulled a Houdini. Up to a bit of candy-corn mischief, I suspect" he tried to calm her down
"Wait, she's out there running around by herself?" Buffy asked
"Yeah, kids these days, eh?" He shrugged
Buffy quickly walked past him.
"I did a sweep of the tunnels, Giles is poking about the cemetery"
"We have to find her" Buffy told him opening a tomb she knew Spike kept weapons in
"I don't think she's in there" said Spike
Buffy took out a crossbow and threw it to Spike. He caught it and frowned a little "So much for a night off" he sighed