Hot Chocolate

Author: Juliatheyounger

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and all the clever people at Mutant Enemy etc own these characters, I'm just sad and obsessed with Spike and felt the need to write about them ;)

Summary: Spike, Buffy, sex. What? You want a plot? Ok, Spike and Buffy spend some quality time fighting a child snatching snot monster. Fluffy B/S shippy fic.

Rating: R for adult concepts, language and not too descriptive sex (sorry I'm no good at smut).

Spoilers: Season 5 up to Intervention (maybe some after that)

Feedback: Yes please!

Distribution: On (Mildly) Pointless Crap, Heat.Desire, Saber's Other People's Whacked Out Fic, and some other nice people's sites (ta! lol, just had to boast there). In the extremely rare chance that someone a, actually reads this, and b wants to put it elsewhere, then YES PLEASE DO! But let me know so I can be suitably flattered.

Author's note: Set after the Glory incident. She imploded. I know, I know, terrible, sad things ACTUALLY happen in the real Buffyverse, but cos I'm in Australia I haven't seen the finale yet. I started writing this before I read those spoilers so just pretend this is an alternate universe where certain people don't die and Glory conveniently got sucked into her own personal black hole. Thanks! ;)

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Hot Chocolate.

Chapter 1: Monsters

Spike leant back against a tree and lit a cigarette. He inhaled deeply. Fucking fantastic, it was, being already dead. All the lovely nicotine addiction and none of that sodding cancer and emphysema business. He exhaled and watched the smoke disappear into the night. Dru liked her stars but Spike found beauty in more earthly things. The night was still, nary a fungus demon to disturb a sleeping Sunnydale. In fact, he was probably the most supernatural thing out tonight. It was as if all the nasties had packed their bags and cleared out after that Glory bint sucked herself into nothing. Now that had been a good day. Spike sighed happily. Things were all right, even for the chipped undead.

********

"This is all I need!" swore Buffy. "Are you sure it's not just some pervert?"

"I'm afraid not Buffy," said Giles. He cleaned his glasses. "All the evidence indicates that whatever is taking the children is not human."

"Why can't it be something the police can handle for once?" Buffy had just started to get used to a nice quiet Sunnydale.

Giles sighed. He agreed. It seemed they were always lurching from one crisis to another. At least they'd had a few months reprieve after Glory obligingly imploded. Lately it had been so quiet that if Buffy encountered any vampires at all it could be counted as a busy night.

"Ok, well you do the book thing and I'll keep an eye out tonight." Buffy stood up. "Hopefully it's just a vamp with a taste for cradle snatching. Vampires I can deal with."

*********

Spike lay back on the grass next to Joyce's grave and looked at the stars. He didn't think much about heaven and hell and all that, but he knew that if he were still here, smoking, fighting and drinking blood, she must be somewhere. The knowledge made him happy. There were a lot of things making Spike happy lately that had no call to be making an evil bloodthirsty vampire even slightly pleased. An afterlife was the least offensive of the things that were warming his metaphorical heart of late. Buffy wasn't completely pissed off with him anymore, not after all his help with Glory. Xander had shouted him a beer. Giles had asked his advice. Red and Tara had...Spike found this one hard to even think about...Red and Tara had knitted him bedsocks. And he'd been pleased! Pleased about two ugly red and pink wool things that could have been socks or might have been novelty condoms. He wasn't entirely sure. But he'd been pleased. And he was invited places. The other week the Scoobies had asked him to go to the Bronze. And then there'd been that night they'd had pizza at the whelp's flat. It was very sad, really, Spike reflected. There he was, glad that some geeky humans wanted him around. I ought to bloody stake myself, he thought. But he thought it happily. Spike was lost in this reverie when suddenly he became aware of a very familiar sound. Screaming. Spike sat bolt upright. In two seconds he was running across the cemetery towards the sound. Well, he reasoned with himself, he had to see what was making all the fuss before he decided whether to be Mr Hero Vamp or not.

********

Buffy heard screaming just as she entered the cemetery grounds.

"Oh goody," she said. "And there I was thinking I wouldn't have to slay anything tonight."

She set off towards the sound at a run. The screaming seemed to be coming from a child. A very scared and upset child. As Buffy got closer she heard the sounds of fighting. Fighting and swearing. Fighting, very British swearing and a very familiar voice saying "Drop it, damn you, drop it!"

A huge scaly, green slimy creature reared off the ground. In its jaws was a howling child. On its back was Spike. He was whacking the creature on the snout with one hand and clinging for dear unlife with the other.

"Bloody hell, drop the damn brat!"

The kid howled louder. The creature couldn't roar because it wasn't about to let go of the kid. It was getting very pissed off though and tried to dislodge the annoying thing on its back with its tail. Spike hung on as the creature bucked and kicked, its long green tail whipping at him.

Buffy decided she probably should help.

"Hey," she said.

The creature swung around and got a slayer fist in the gut.

"Ewww, gross much?" Buffy said flicking slime off her hand.

"Hey Slayer," Spike said, not stopping his pounding. The kid stopped its howling for a brief second at the arrival of this new person, but then quickly remembered that it was supposed to be upset and began yowling again.

"Spike," replied Buffy. She dodged the creature's tail and kicked it in the head.

"Damn, I liked those boots," she said as her foot came away snotty.

The creature staggered back and roared in pain, dropping the child. Buffy swooped on the still yelling little kid as the creature and Spike tumbled backwards over a grave stone.

"Ow, git orf!" Buffy heard.

Now child free, the creature opened its very fangy jaws and bellowed.

"Oh fuck!" said Spike.

Depositing the child safely behind a tomb and telling it to stay there, Buffy ran to help Spike.

She jumped over the gravestone and found Spike standing very still, a look of sheer horror on his face. He was covered head to toe in thick green mucus. The creature was nowhere in sight.

"What happened?"

"It got away," Spike said quietly, not moving at all.

"Why, how? What happened?"

"It - " A look of tremendous pain crossed Spike's face. "The bloody thing sneezed on me," he said.

"Oh," said Buffy. A smirk twitched at her lips.

"Don't you laugh Slayer. Its not bloody funny."

Buffy laughed. Spike looked so indignant. It was too priceless.

"That's nice, that is," he growled. "Here I am trying to save little Johnny from the dragon and what thanks do I get? None. I get covered in snot and bloody laughed at, that's what I get."

Buffy looked at him. He was a mess. If he wasn't so pissed off and funny looking she would have felt sorry for him.

"Come on," she said. "Let's get little Johnny home, then you can come and have a shower at my place."

She started off to where she'd hidden the kid, not noticing the effect the combination of the words "my place", "shower" and "come" had on Spike. He shook himself, dislodging a few wads of slime in the process, and followed after her.

The child wasn't too hard to find because it was still bellowing.

Chapter 2: Shower Scene

Buffy sat on her bed talking on the phone to Giles. She and Spike were back at her house. Buffy had managed to get some sense out of the child and they'd returned it home to its frantic parents. Now she was filling Giles in on what had happened. Although it was close to midnight, the watcher hadn't been asleep and he was extremely interested in Buffy's news.

"It was definitely green you say."

"Like a big lizardy-frog thing. Did I mention it sneezed on Spike?"

"Yes, five times now," said Giles. "That's very interesting, the description I mean, not the sneezing part, although that in itself was interesting the first time I heard it…where was I?"

"Interesting description?"

"Oh yes, well the other eyewitness described the creature as being grey and almost bird like."

"Do you think there's more than one demon?"

"Possibly, I'll look into it."

"Well you let the guys know and we'll meet in the morning for the big research thing. I'll go see if I can find it when Spike finishes washing his hair."

"All right Buffy, although hopefully there won't be any more attacks tonight. So far this creature, whatever it is, hasn't taken more than one child a night."

"Maybe the trauma of using Spike as a tissue will scare it away for awhile."

Giles was suddenly serious. "Buffy -" he began.

"Giles, you don't have to tell me to be careful."

"I wasn't going to say that!" he protested. "Oh all right I was. Be careful Buffy."

"I will, goodnight Giles."

Buffy hung up the phone and lay back on the bed. She could hear Spike in the shower. Suddenly she giggled. He was singing! She focused on the sound trying to make out the words.

"..man I'm so strung out, I'm high as a kite, I just might…"

The Violent Femmes?

"Start to check you out…let me go ooonnnnnnn, like a blister in the sun, let me go oonnnnnnnn big hands you know you're the one."

Spike, William the Bloody, vampire, something that should be her mortal enemy was in her shower, singing a Violent Femmes song. For the sake of non wigginess, Buffy tried not to dwell too much on the Spike issue. Things were almost back to normal between them. He hadn't said the L thing since, like, the Buffy bot. Maybe that had got it out of his system. That would be a good thing. Definitely. She remembered how she'd freaked when she first found out Spike had feelings for her. It had completely shaken her world view. Buffy had never even considered the concept. Spike had always been, Spike. Bad, evil Spike who always told her things she didn't want to hear, who she could count on to be Spike, who she didn't have to trust. Spike being snarky and a pain in the butt now somehow made her feel safe, as if everything was back to normal again. She didn't hate him anymore. Found him obnoxious and irritating, yes, but she didn't hate him. She had stopped hating him the moment she'd seen what Glory had done to him because he wouldn't betray her. Now the good Spike hate was gone, Buffy didn't want to deal with the feelings that were left.

Buffy rolled onto her stomach and fetched a magazine from beside the bed. She flicked through it idly, half listening to Spike, half trying not to. The magazine itself was a sign of how quiet things had been lately. Buffy had had enough time on her hands to go and buy a magazine.

"Who listens to this crap," she muttered, glancing over an article entitled, "How to blow his mind in bed". Who needed men anyway. Or sex. Or a boyfriend. Or sex. If she wanted sex she'd go and get a, a Parker clone, and do it with him. It would end up the same as always anyway. There was definitely something to be said for one night stands. It would just save time and all that money on Valentine's day. Suddenly the shower stopped. Buffy concentrated on her magazine trying not to pay attention to the sounds of Spike drying himself off and getting dressed. Thoughts of Spike and the images the magazine had put in her head were becoming dangerously close to being combined. She almost wished he'd start singing again. The tune started up again. Then again, maybe not.

Finally he emerged. They had stopped off at his crypt on the way home and grabbed him some clean non-slimey clothes. Grey shirt, noted Buffy. Finally a change from black. Grey suits him. So does wet hair. Ok stop now.

*******

"Where's the Nibblet?" Spike asked, drying his hair with a towel. He was trying to be nonchalant, hoping Buffy didn't notice the bulge that had appeared in his pants at the sight of her lying on the bed. For fuck's sake mate, he thought, she's not even doing anything, just lying there reading that girly mag, playing with her hair, waiting for you to get out of the shower and…no, that wasn't helping.

"Dawn's staying at friend's tonight. She's over there like every other night now. I think she's enjoying being a normal girl again." Buffy rolled over and sat up. "Besides I hate leaving her by herself when I'm out being Slayer Buffy."

"Why don't you get a room mate?" Spike asked. "Some old biddy to be about when Dawn's here. The house is plenty big."

Buffy sighed. "Then there's the whole can't-let-the-roomie-know-I'm-a-slayer thing."

"Yeh, guess you're right pet." He paused. "What about your Watcher. Couldn't he move in and keep an eye on the nibblet?"

Buffy laughed, "Giles? Please no. I love him to bits but I need a little bit of no Watcher time once in a while. Besides I think both he and Dawn would go mad living together."

Spike chuckled thinking about it. "I'm sure Giles would love spending his evenings painting his toenails and watching Party of Five." He hung the towel up on Buffy's door knob. "Come on pet, I'm all cleaned up, lets go find this snot monster."

Buffy jumped up and grabbed her coat. Spike suddenly remembered his poor duster. He picked it up off the bathroom floor and examined it appraisingly. It was no good, it would need a thorough clean. He grabbed his cigarettes, lighter and money out of the pockets and dropped the duster on the pile of his dirty clothing.

"I'll get those later if you don't mind pet," Spike said.

Buffy looked at the pile of black slimey clothes on her nice clean bathroom floor.

"Don't leave it too long," she said and headed down the stairs. Spike grinned and followed her. Any day Buffy didn't feel the need to threaten him with stakage, well Spike would like to have said it was a good day, but in reality it seemed as if it were missing something. He'd provoke her to it yet.

End of Chapter 2

Chapter 3: The Hot Chocolate Bit.

They walked through the cemetery circling around looking for any sign of the creature they'd been fighting earlier in the evening. Despite the ground around where they'd been fighting being covered in slime, there was no trail leading away in any direction.

"What now?"

"Don't look at me, Slayer," said Spike lighting a cigarette.

"I try not to," Buffy said.

Spike smirked. So they were going to dance were they. The evening was getting better and better.

He pulled on his cigarette looking at Buffy thoughtfully.

Buffy eyed him suspiciously. What was he up to now.

"You know Slayer," he said. Here we go, thought Buffy, Spike Lesson the One Millionth. He didn't get to finish however because suddenly three vampires sprang out of nowhere at them.

"No one for weeks and suddenly we have a snot monster and three vamps," said Buffy as she high-kicked a vampire in the head and punched another.

"Looks like evil's finished taking its holiday Slayer."

"Pity you didn't get to take a break too Spike." Buffy back flipped over a tombstone and landed stake down on a vampire.

He grinned at her. "No rest for the wicked luv." He slammed one of the vampires head first into at tombstone. "Except for this lot of course."

Punch, kick, slash, kick, bite, punch, kick, stake, puff, stake, puff. Finally, Buffy and Spike stood facing each other panting. Spike felt himself growing erect at the sight of her. Fuck she was gorgeous. All hot and sweaty and trembly. He knew the slaying affected her as well. He could smell the adrenaline in her veins. It was that other intoxicating scent, not fear, it was power and strength and victory. He wanted her.

"Come on pet, let's go get us a coffee or something."

******

This is a very bad idea, thought Buffy. There are so many things wrong with this idea. On the other hand, why is there anything wrong with this idea, its not like you haven't eaten food with Spike before. You're just getting a coffee and something to eat with Spike, an almost friend, after patrolling together. After kicking ass together. After getting all hot and bothered together. No, this is fine. It was times like these that Buffy really missed Riley. Someone to go home to and work off the slaying high with. She remembered an earlier conversation with Spike about his first slayer kill.

"You got off on it."

"Well, yeah. Suppose you're telling me you don't."

As much as she hated to admit it, it was true. The energy she felt when she was slaying, the high from defeating the demons. It left her buzzing, hyped up, horny. Faith had said much the same thing. How long has it been since Riley left, Buffy thought. Fuck almost a year. Well, half a year. Ok, 6 months and two days. Without sex, an annoying part of her mind added.

Spike drank his hot chocolate with marshmallows while Buffy had a café latte. They shared some nachos.

Angel had never eaten like Spike. Spike seemed to like food, almost seemed to need it, as well, food. Buffy wondered briefly how a vampire's digestive system worked and decided not to go there.

"So," Spike said, fiddling too much with a sachet of sugar. "Have you seen that new Mummy flick?"

********

Buffy wasn't sure how they got around to talking about sex but somehow they were. How did you go from the relative merits of horror flicks to comparing notes on recent shags? There must have been a link somewhere between chainsaws and bondage and how much Dru had liked it. Probably, but that had led to Angel, and that had led to Buffy asking Spike a few pointed questions.

"Well its not like I bloody shagged him," Spike was saying. Buffy had not liked his non- committal response to her question.

"That's nice to know," she said. "But come on Spike, you guys hung about together for decades, you must have some idea of how Angel, Angelus, was before…"

"Before he got all souled up? Why do you want to know Slayer?"

"What's with answering all my questions with a question?" Buffy snapped. "You sound like a psychiatrist."

"You see a lot of psychiatrists do you Summers?"

Buffy just glared. "Tell me Spike."

"Pet, if you're asking if he was all mean and nasty, the bite em and leave em type, then yeah. He was a fucking bastard. You know that."

She looked upset. Damn. Spike's eye's softened. "But he was different with Darla," he said gently.

"Oh?" Buffy didn't know whether to be pleased or jealous at this news. Angel had been so gentle with her. Was he like that with Darla?

"Well, yeh there was still the biting stuff and Darla liked it rough a bit, but Angelus loved her, as much as he could at any rate. Wasn't as much as me and Dru felt for each other, but Darla was the only thing he cared about."

"Oh." She wasn't going to ask. She knew she needn't ask, if Angel had loved Darla as much as he loved her, he would have lost his soul a long time ago. The question still hung there however. And if Angel could love Darla without a soul why couldn't he love her?

Spike knew what she was thinking.

"Pet," he said. "Angel loved you, probably still loves you, more than her. But Darla made him. The whole sire business, it's complicated."

"But when he, when he lost his soul. He hated me so much -"

"Course Angel still loved you when he lost his soul! That's why he hated you so much. Trust me, I know how he bloody felt." There was a sudden silence as Spike realised what he'd said and Buffy realised too.

They both tried to make conversation at once.

"Do you still love Dru?"

"What about Soldier boy."

More awkward silence.

Then Spike coughed. "Yeh, I still love Dru. But I think the in love with her part is over. Probably ended with that Angelus crap."

"He took Dru from you?" Buffy asked. She remembered how Spike had joined forces with her so he could get Drusilla back.

"Only to be a prick. It the sire thing again Slayer, he's Dru's sire. He's in her blood."

"And she's in yours."

"Yeh." There was a pause.

"Did it hurt, when she left you?" Buffy's voice was soft.

"Like broken glass." Then Spike pulled himself together and winked at the Slayer. "I mean, how could she pick a chaos demon over me?"

"I have no idea," Buffy said with heavy sarcasm, relieved the mood had lightened. The sensitive Spike of a moment before had unnerved her. Buffy didn't want to admit why.

Spike pulled a face. "So go on, then. You and Captain Cardboard. Admit it, he was rebound guy wasn't he?"

Spike was surprised at how pleased he was when Buffy vehemently denied this. For some reason the knowledge that Buffy got emotionally involved in her relationships made him happy. It kept his image of her intact.

He didn't let her know this of course.

"I mean," Buffy continued. "It was different to Angel. But it wasn't like Riley thought. Just because things weren't angsty and life and death between us, didn't mean I didn't feel as much for him. It was special because things were so safe. I guess I took him for granted."

"He's a stupid pillock and don't you forget it," growled Spike a little too fiercely. "Don't blame yourself Buffy. You needed him to be your calm in the storm is all. He wanted to be the storm."

Buffy cocked her head to the side and looked at Spike, searching his face. She gave him a half smile.

"Thanks," she said. "That sort of makes me feel better."

"Good," said Spike. "Now, spill the beans. Who was the most boring in bed, Angel or Riley?"

Buffy kicked him, hard. Hateful Spike was much easier to deal with.

Now she was defending her sex life for crying out loud. Trying to prove to Spike, of all people, that she had a very interesting sex life, thank you very much.

"Ok," she was saying. "I'm going to tell you something and if you tell ANYONE, I swear I'll -"

"Stake me good and proper, yeah ok, go on, tell me your dark dirty secret Slayer."

Buffy glared at him.

"Riley once asked me to dress up in a nurse's uniform."

Spike kept a straight face for two whole seconds. "You thought that was kinky?" he asked incredulously. He shook his head. "I shoulda known that was the wholesome kind of fantasy Whitebread would have. Now if it was Riley dressed up in the nurse's uniform, that would have been interesting."

Buffy looked a bit annoyed. "Hey, we got plenty kinky," she protested.

"Now Dru," Spike continued. "She liked to mess with the gender roles."

Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"There was this one time- "

"Do I want to hear this?" Buffy interrupted.

"Ok, lets just say taking her to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show was probably a mistake."

Buffy smirked. "You as Frankenfurter hey?"

Spike grinned. Then leaned back. "Those nurse's uniforms are damned uncomfortable though," he added.

"I think they're supposed to be tight," said Buffy. She looked at Spike. "Aren't you even a little bit worried I might tell people about all your interesting adventures?"

"Not really," said Spike, looking at his fingernails. "Who yer going to tell? Xander and that ex-demon chick of his get up to pretty much the same. And Red and Tara aren't exactly conventional, although somehow I think they're more into the strawberries and whipped cream thing than the manacles and nipple clamps."

"Ewww, graphics!"

Spike smirked at her. "You should try it sometime," he said.

"Have I mentioned how disgusting you are?"

Spike ignored her and continued through his list. "And Giles would just be embarrassed so it would be more than worth it."

"All right you've got a point. I'll be traumatised for life all by myself."

Spike smirked. He raised the hot chocolate mug to his lips and looked at her speculatively over the rim. She could just tell he was about to be annoyingly insightful again. He put the mug down and was.

"The thing about you Slayer, is you want sex to be like a sodding Meg Ryan movie."

"Do go on, Mr Sweet Transvestite."

"You know what I mean, pink décor, some git warbling in the background about eternal love or somesuch. Sex isn't always like that."

"No, sometimes it involves stilettos."

"Sometimes, pet, it's fierce and passionate and messy and not nice."

Buffy swallowed. It might have been Spike's suddenly intense look, it might have been his words or it could just be this damned conversation, but she was feeling very warm, uncomfortably excited. She was definitely sitting too close to him. Everything paused for two whole seconds. Then Spike leaned back, drained his mug of hot chocolate and surveyed Buffy thoughtfully.

"Take you and me love, we're supposed to be mortal enemies right? You can't tell me we wouldn't have fun if we had sex. "

Buffy tried to look as sceptical as possible. She pointedly ignored her suddenly accelerated heart beat.

"Well I'd have fun anyway," said Spike comfortably. "And 120 years experience does count for something, let me tell you."

Buffy hadn't considered that. Spike had managed to keep Dru happy for almost 115 of those years. That was a marathon effort by anyone's terms. No, no, no, we are not considering having sex with Spike just to see what its like, she told herself firmly.

"I'll just take your word for it and then you won't have to prove it," she said dryly.

He smirked at her again. "Your loss luv."

"Ego much?" Buffy felt it was definitely time to get out of this situation. She moved in her chair and accidently brushed her leg against Spike's. Definitely time to leave. "Have you finished?" she said shortly. "We should get going."

Chapter 4: End of the Evening

Spike kicked himself as they walked back towards the cemetery. Stupid git, he thought. They'd been getting along so well, until he opened his sodding mouth and pissed her off. He'd actually had a point, when he'd started talking about having sex with her. He'd been trying to show that she didn't necessary need to bring all that angst and emotion stuff into something that was as real and physical as her slaying. That sex should be fun, not a tortured experience with delicately handled feelings. Somehow things had gotten sidetracked along the way. He'd seen her eyes though. For a moment, she'd definitely thought about it. For a few seconds. And then he'd gone too far. A sudden thought brightened him. Maybe she was frustrated! Maybe that was why she'd gotten all grumpy.

"How long has it been since you had sex Slayer?" Spike asked and then nearly throttled himself.

"Excuse me?" Could he fucking read her mind or something?

Part of Spike wanted to punch himself in the nose then back peddle out of the verbal hole he'd started excavating, but the part that seemed to be in control of his mouth kept on shoveling.

"Well, Soldier Boy's been gone a while now. Just wondering." He let his insinuation hang in the air.

"For your information Spike, I am not frustrated."

She was! She was frustrated. Ok wanker, Spike said to himself. Shut the fuck up now, cos even if there is the slightest chance she'll stop thinking of you as the scum of the earth, she won't be doing anything with you if she thinks she has to prove you wrong. He opened his mouth but luckily the less masochistic part of him got control and he shut up. He let her walk ahead for a while. He grinned. This was fun.

"So," Buffy said suddenly. "I suppose that's why you and Harmony were together."

"Why's that pet?" Spike was walking alongside her comfortably.

"Cos of the nasty vamp sex fun. You can't tell me there was a lot of deep and meaningful about Harmony."

"Harmony had her moments," he said.

Was that a flicker of … what, jealousy? No he must be seeing things.

"Moments of complete bimboness," muttered Buffy.

"Is bimboness even a word?" He looked at Buffy curiously.

"Definitely, when you're describing Harm," Buffy said airily.

"I thought you two were pals at school?"

"As if!" Buffy pulled a face. "She was a major biatch. Her and Cordelia were friends."

"Ah, we weren't in the popular crowd then Slayer?"

"The Look At Me, I'm Vacuous and Completely Self-Centred crowd? No, I think not."

A part of Spike, very long forgotten or at least relentlessly crushed, could relate. He lit a cigarette.

"Yeh well, popularity's over-rated, pet," he murmured. "Everyone knows it's the loners who are the coolest."

"Like you I suppose. Oh I forgot, you were always Big Bad."

Spike's mouth flickered into a grin. He'd almost forgotten the mangled version he'd told her of his pre-vampire life. He'd definitely left out the geeky poet desperate for acceptance part, with the stupid hair and bloody specs. What a bunch of tosspots that mob of society types were.

"Something like that," he said.

Buffy found herself laughing. Spike was telling her about Victorian England, when he was alive. Telling her about the terribly polite, stuffy people who had inhabited his world. And the not so polite ones who lived on its fringes, the servants, the street people, the lower class.

"…and there was this one fellow, irritating git, fancied himself a poet. Bloody terrible at it he was. Floppy hair, glasses, the lot. He had a thing for that Cecily bird I told you about."

Buffy nodded. Part of her felt almost jealous, the way Spike had described Cecily. And part of her hated the woman, because Spike's vampire eyes now saw how petty, selfish and vain she was.

"One time I remember he had written this poem about her. Awful thing it was. Used the word effulgent. Well, the others got hold of it and read it out. You should've seen her face. She soon set him straight." Spike tossed a stone at a tree.

"The poor guy," Buffy said. She looked up at Spike, a little taken aback by the casual cruelty with which he described the man's humiliation. "What an awful thing to do Spike."

Spike looked down at her. A small smile flickered at his lips. "Pet, that was me."

"You?" Buffy studied him, his frank admission amazing her. "You were the poet?"

He cocked his head to the side studying her. "Yeah, I was a sodding wimp, now you know the awful truth," he said. Suddenly he looked away, the compassion in her eyes embarrassing him.

"What happened?" Part of Buffy wanted him to end up with Cecily.

He suddenly grinned evilly. "That night Dru turned me and I killed every last one of them smug bastards."

"Cecily?" asked Buffy. She saw Spike pause.

"No. Not Cecily."

He and Buffy walked in silence for a while. This is comfortable, Buffy thought. Spike's a complete pain, but it's still comfortable. The evening had been sort of fun. When Spike hadn't been making her uncomfortable or irritating the life out of her, that is. She snuck a glance at the man beside her. Funny how she had stopped thinking of him as her enemy. One day he'd lose the chip and she'd kill him. She knew she had to remember this. It would make things easier.

"Buffy," Spike said suddenly, interrupting her reverie. His tone disturbed her. It was serious, concerned, nice. She looked up at him questioningly.

"How you feeling pet? After all that business with Glory." He wanted to say, are you getting over your mum ok, but he didn't push it.

Buffy looked at him, frowning. He was doing that sensitive thing again.

"Its just that you're looking happier lately pet, is all," Spike said. He stood in front of her. Not touching her. His eyes however searched her face.

"Yeh, I'm feeling better. I guess I was pretty stressed out before."

Spike nodded. "Good," he said. It was the second time that night he'd said that. And both times it had been because she hadn't been feeling bad. Then he smirked at her. "And you've put on weight too," he added.

Buffy glared at him. "I have not!"

He chuckled at her softly. "Luv, it's a compliment. You're looking better. Healthier."

"More blood I suppose," said Buffy darkly. She ignored how his approval made her feel.

"Especially across the arse."

Buffy punched him in the arm, flicked her hair and started walking.

*****

Spike watched her arse for a few seconds then followed after her. Definitely looking better. Bloody gorgeous figure aside, she seemed less stressed. More vibrant. She'd let herself get so thin and run down worrying about Niblet and her Mum and Glory. The break from nasties had been good for her.

End of Chapter 4

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