This Kind of Lonely

Disclaimer

I own NOTHING (except for the plot*smile*)! Anything in this story that falls under existing copyrights belongs to their respective owners.

A/N
I can’t believe it, I finally finished the next chapter. I am so sorry for keeping you waiting. I tell you, I can’t even start to tell how much semester finals and even more studying for them sucks. I am so glad when they are finally over.
Thank you to everyone who once again took the time to read the story and I am grateful for the reviews I get from you. They are really encouraging.
Enjoy the new chapter, tell me what you think.
Hugs to all!

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Previously on “This Kind of Lonely”:

Spike is still recovering from his drinking the night before. Buffy takes care of him and both of them share a mind-blowing kiss afterwards. This romantic situation is shot to hell by the entrance of Harmony…

This Kind of Lonely


Chapter 10: Never again

Buffy and Spike broke from the second kiss they had shared, startled by the sudden mass of people standing in Spike’s bedroom. Well, it wouldn’t have been for the people just standing in the room, nevermind, they would have never noticed them, but Harmony and her high-pitched yelling wasn’t to be ignored, even if you were engrossed in an sweet and passionate moment like Buffy and Spike.

“Who do you think you are you sorry excuse for a whore?” Harmony’s yelling was now directed at Buffy as well as all her hatred was now focussed on the injured blonde.

“Watch it…” Buffy growled low in her throat.

“Harmony Kendall…” Spike’s voice roared through the master bedroom while he turned around to face his now more than ever sure-to-be ex-fiancée.

“That’s going to be fun” Cordelia giggled into Xander’s ear and both of them shared a knowing glance. “Let the festivities begin…” where their mutual thought.

“What?” Harmony asked exasperated “Am I the only one who finds it disturbing that my fiancée is kissing some blonde bimbo who only takes advantage of his guilty feelings?”

“What?” now it was Buffy’s turn to yell “do you honestly think I would do such a thing? And for the record, it isn’t my fault that you are your stupid self and can’t understand that you’re more of a burden to him than anything else, and don’t call me a bimbo” her voice held a threatening tone.

“Yep” Buffy’s brain tuned in “set her off even more. I will say ‘I told you so’ when she kills you. You know you can’t defend yourself right now, do you…” But Buffy was beyond anything reasonable. She couldn’t believe that somebody actually thought she only took advantage of Spike. The thought itself hurt, and she wouldn’t take it from a stupid blonde cow like Harmony, not when she started to develop feelings for the man, that obviously deserved better than some bitch like Harmony.

”Feelings? Huh…” she thought “well, get rid of Harmony now, then go back to kissing Spike, think about feelings later” she decided and took a deep breath to serve the next comment only to be cut off by Spike.

“Who do you think you are?” he queried, his voice made it pretty clear that he wouldn’t take anymore crap from Harmony.

“For your information” Harmony pronounced each word slowly as if she was talking to a child “I am your fiancée, you know the woman you’re supposed to marry someday. The one you should worship and love till the end of time not betray by kissing some slut stupid enough to jump in front of a car.”

Cordelia slowly watched Buffy’s temper rising, the only indication was the glint in her eyes. She also didn’t miss Spike clenching his jaw so tightly, she thought it might break if he wouldn’t loosen it anytime soon. She turned her head back to Xander and bent it slightly backwards to whisper into his ear.

“Now I think things will get messy. Buffy looks like she’s going to kill Harm…”

“Yay for the injured blonde” Xander interrupted her stream of speech.

“…and Spike looks like he’s going to detonate” she took a moment to take a breath “wanna get some popcorn?”

Xander had a hard time controlling the urge to laugh out loud at Cordelia’s last comment. He put a hand over his mouth and started giggling. Lucky for him no one except for Cordy recognized his behaviour.

“I swear to God” Buffy started to respond to Harmony’s last comment “if you call me anything like that again I won’t be held responsible for the things that will happen to you afterwards. Get it through your thick head, you’re out of the game, outplayed by someone way out of your league” once again bitchy Buffy came out to play.

Spike couldn’t say anything to that. Buffy’s last words held promises he wasn’t sure he was ready to face. Or they maybe promises but it could also only be the heat of the moment, her not knowing what she’s saying and stuff like that. No, he definitely liked the first version with the promises better. Although he was kinda scared what that could and would mean, he couldn’t say it was unpleasant. It warmed him inside and tugged at his heart that Buffy, the woman that had hated his guts just a few days ago defended him in front of his still-fiancée although they hadn’t even marked the playfield, hell they didn’t even know what game they were playing yet. The thing slowly developing between the two of them was still so fresh and fragile but Spike knew he put his efforts into it. And no Harmony or anybody else for that matter would interfere with that. Nobody.

While Spike was still musing over the things Buffy’s words might mean, those words somehow triggered something inside Harmony. Suddenly she leaped over the bed right towards Buffy, who was sitting in her wheelchair.

“I am going to kill you” she yelled before her whole weight made contact with Buffy’s injured body. The two blondes toppled down to the grounds and Harmony instantly tried to get a hold on Buffy’s throat to choke her with both of her hands.

“Get off of me” Buffy yelled from the top of her lungs with the last deep breath she could take before she felt the constriction around her throat. Instantly her mind went blank and instinct took over control. Her right hand curled into a fist and without a second thought she let it fly. The fist made contact with Harmony’s jaw, the impact of Buffy’s hand took her by surprise and it took her a few blinks to regain her hold on the small blonde lying beneath her.

From the spectators of the fight going on in the bedroom Cordelia was the first to react. She ran over to where Harmony once again tried to choke Buffy to death and tried to pull her off the injured girl. Spike and Xander reached the fighting couple split-seconds later and finally the three of them where able to pull a fighting, clawing and kicking Harmony off of Buffy’s bruised body.

Buffy rolled into a fetal position and took in huge gulps of air. When her brain suddenly started to have control over her body again she realized how close she actually had been to being choked to death. She started to sob and Cordelia left the two men with the still yelling and fighting Harmony to comfort the injured blonde girl in deep misery.

When Spike finally was able to control Harmony by himself he turned to Xander.

“I want you to call Giles. Make him come here immediately no matter what, I want him to check on Buffy and see if anything has to be done. When you called him I need you and Cordelia to take Buffy back to HER “he emphasized the word “room and back to bed. Look that she is as comfortable as possible” he finished while his hand held Harmony’s elbow in a grip that would definitely leave bruises.

Xander nodded in understanding while he pulled his cell-phone from his pocket and started to dial Giles number.

“What are you going to do?” he queried while he waited for Giles to pickup the phone.

“I will have a talk with my ex-fiancée” Spike said loud enough for the whole room to hear. After he had announced his intentions he started to drag Harmony out of the bedroom and towards his study. Any colour had left her face and she just stared blankly down the hallway in front of her.

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Giles arrived at Spike’s house ten minutes later. He found the front door already open and hurried inside. From what Xander had told him he assumed Buffy could be heavily injured again and he didn’t want to risk anything happening to her. He liked her, way more than he ever would be able to like Harmony, and if his suspicions were correct he felt some kind of connection between Buffy and Spike. “They would make quite a couple” he thought for a moment before he entered her bedroom and found her lying in bed while Cordelia and Xander stood next to it watching her, not knowing what to do. He immediately crossed the distance from the door to the bed.

“Hey Buffy” he greeted her “how are you feeling?”

“Like somebody tried to kill me” she replied in a scratchy voice that held a subtle tone of sarcasm.

“Is it that serious?” he queried.

“Look at her throat” Xander and Cordelia spoke in unison.

Giles pushed aside Buffy’s blonde hair that prevented him from taking a closer look. When he saw the slightly blue marks on her throat he gasped in shock.

“Oh my God, is she out of her bloody mind?” Giles exclaimed.

When nobody gave a sign of wanting to comment on his rhetorical question he continued “Buffy I have to examine you immediately to see if you are injured even more.”

Buffy only nodded her head and Giles gave Cordelia and Xander a look that told them to leave them alone. Both of them nodded to Giles and left Buffy’s bedroom for the living room.

Just when they had took a seat on the couch and started the TV they heard yelling coming from Spike’s study followed by a crying Harmony running past the door to the living room and out of the front door.

“I am done with you” Spike yelled into the hallway after Harmony “I won’t take your shit again, never again. It’s over. If you ever come near me or the mine again there will be hell to pay.” The sound of the study door falling into its frame echoed from the hallway walls and Xander and Cordelia slightly flinched.

Both of them turned their heads to stare at each other.

“You go” suddenly both of them said in unison, while pointing at the respective other with their hands.

“But I don’t want to go, he always takes it out on me when he’s in that mood” Xander whined. Cordelia only raised an eyebrow at that.

“Okay, okay, fine I’ll go, but when I come back in two pieces it’s your fault” he muttered under his breath while he got up from couch and started towards the door. He slowly walked down the hallway and contemplated the possibilities of what he might have to face once he entered the lion’s den.

Once he arrived at the study he slightly knocked on the wooden door. When no answer came from the inside he opened the door and slipped in. He found Spike sitting in the chair in front of his desk, a glass of scotch in his hands.

“Don’t you think you drank enough last night?” Xander tried to joke with a smile on his face. Better to check the terrain before saying anything wrong.

“Bugger off” was Spike’s only response before he emptied the glass.

“Or not” Xander tried to continue the conversation, although at this point it was kinda one-sided “so I take it the thing with Harmony didn’t go too well then.”

“Are you deaf or something, I told you to get lost” Spike said in an angry voice.

“First of all, you know I can’t do that, and second you know me, I never listen to advices the people give me” Xander answered with a smirk, trying to keep his voice sound joking.

“So what do you want then” Spike sounded annoyed.

“I…um…I wanted to know if you’re alright” Xander started only to be interrupted by an infuriated Spike.

“Am I alright? Are you off your bloody rockers? Do I look like I am fucking alright? I just told my fiancée to go to hell after she tried to kill the girl I feel for in my own house” he nearly yelled the last words.

“Wow, wow buddy, calm down, I am not your enemy, I just want to talk” Xander tried to soothe the outraged Brit.

Spike only stared into his friends eyes for the next seconds and Xander was sure he might just drop dead if looks actually could kill. Suddenly Spike took his head in his hands and let them wander until they nearly covered his mouth.

“I was so scared” he muttered in a silent voice.

“I know” Xander answered while he moved over to Spike to reassuringly pat his back.

“God knows what would have happened if we wouldn’t have been there” Spike continued.

“But we were and the bitch is gone for good now” Xander tried to reason.

“Yeah, but still it doesn’t change the fact that I promised Buffy to take care of her and then I nearly get her killed in my house by the hands of my fiancée” Spike wouldn’t let it go.

“Hey now, listen to me” Xander’s voice rose a bit. He waited until Spike turned to look at him.

“Everything will be fine. She needs you to be strong now. I think after that traumatic event she needs comfort. You can’t give it to her if you won’t stop to contemplate the what-might and the what-might-not. It happened as it did and you’ll have to see how to go from here” he finished.

“But…” Spike wanted to answer but was interrupted by Giles.

“Xander is right Spike. I checked her and other than the injuries to her throat she’s fine. She also told me that she had moved parts of her limbs again and that you somehow had something to do with it” he added with a slight, knowing smile “and I think her health is more important now than worrying about something that didn’t and won’t happen. I think she needs you right now…”

“What makes you think she needs me or wants to see me” Spike queried, a slight edge in his voice “it’s not like are best friends or anything, yeah, we might have kissed but that doesn’t have to mean anything…”

“Well” Giles broke into Spike’s rant “I know because she asked for you and asked me to tell you she wanted to see you” Giles smiled and Xander smirked.

The sentence hadn’t even finished completely when Spike was out of the door and off to Buffy’s room. Xander took two glasses from the shelf next to Spike’s desk and poured some scotch into both of them. He handed one of them to Giles and both of the men shared a knowing smile before they clicked their glasses.

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Spike entered Buffy’s room after he knocked and found her lying in bed looking at him.

“Hey pet” he addressed her in calm voice “how’s the feeling?”

“I’ve been better but I have to say that I definitely feel better now that you’re here” that earned her a smile from him.

“Come here” she patted the empty space next to her and Spike strode over to the bed and took a seat in the chair next to it.

“No, no” Buffy shook her head “come here, she once again patted the empty space on the bed.

Spike got up from the chair and sat next to Buffy on the bed.

“Buffy…I…I am so sorry…I…I was so scared” Spike stuttered, not able to look her in the eye, scared from the look of disappointment he would surely receive.

He felt Buffy’s hand on his forearm and turned his head to look at her. “I was scared too, but there is nothing to be sorry about, it wasn’t your fault” she tried to sound strong but her voice trembled when the events from earlier that day replayed in front of her inner eye.

“I promised to take care of you and the only thing I do is let that stupid bitch attack you…” once again Spike had entered the spiral of fear and self-loathing.

“Sp…Spike…please stop it. Could…could you please just hold me until I fall asleep” she queried with pleading eyes.

Without another word Spike turned around to pull of his boots and then once again joined Buffy on the bed. He laid next to her and cradled her into his arms before she laid her head on his shoulder and he placed a kiss on top of her hair.

Yeah, he might be angry with himself and he might be scared of what might have happened if, but he wouldn’t bring her down by denying her anything. If she needed him or anything from him she would get it, no matter what. And with that cognition there was no need for more words. He just held her and waited for her to fall asleep.

To be continued…

Upcoming: Chapter 11: Awakening