Breathless

Buffy awoke from her morphine induced sleep, sweating and breathing hard,
causing sharp pangs to sear in her chest. Nightmares of blood and pain had
swirled through her head, leaving her frightened and exhausted. She glanced
around the darkened room and was startled to see Spike sprawled in a chair
by the window, watching her intently.

When Spike saw that Buffy was awake, he rose from his resting spot and cautiously
approached her. “How are you feeling, pet”

“Hmm...That’s a silly question.” she murmured, “I feel like my crazy fiancé
beat the living hell out of me.” Buffy attempted to smile, trying to lighten
up the feeling in the room, but ended up wincing in pain as the stitches on
her top lip were pulled tightly.” Ouch. No smiling for a while, huh?”

“You want me to fetch the nurse to give you something for the pain?” he
offered, hating seeing the pain in her eyes.

“No thank you. I would rather stay awake for a while, the nightmares are
becoming unbearable. Um...have you heard anything about Riley? Have they
found him yet?” she tried to ask casually, but was unable to hide the fear
in her wavering voice.

Spike wished her could offer her some comfort by saying that Riley was
behind bars. He hated knowing that asshole was still out there and possibly
able to find Buffy. “No, pet, he hasn’t been located.” He held her
small hand in his, “Don’t worry though, I won’t ever let him hurt you again,
OK?” Even though she nodded her head ever so slightly in agreement, the
expression on her face showed that she was not truly convinced.

Buffy tentatively raised her hand to her face, gently caressing the crisscrossed
stitches that snaked across her eyebrow. “You know,” she said, grimacing,
“I’m glad that we finally got to meet. I…I just wish you didn’t have to see me look
this way.” Her lip quivered again and she bowed her head so that Spike could
not see the tears in her eyes.

Spike sat on the bed next to her, wishing he could lie down beside her and hold
her in his arms for the rest of the night. Instead, he reached out and tipped her
head upwards ever so slightly and said, “All I care about right now, luv, is getting
you well enough to leave this horrible place. I already know that you are beautiful.”

Once again, Buffy had tried to smile, but gave up because of the stitches. Instead,
she eased to the opposite edge of the bed and motioned for Spike to lie down
beside her. The smile on his face made her heart melt.

Shrugging out of his leather duster, Spike carefully eased into the bed with Buffy.
When she had motioned for him to join her, he had felt dizzy with happiness.
When they were both comfortable, Spike decided to fill her in on the living
arrangements that he had discussed with Angel and her family. For nearly two
hours they had talked, covering everything from her career to how he knew Angel.
Eventually, she had succumbed to the pain and had allowed him to get the nurse
for her pain medication. Shortly after, Buffy’s eyelids began to droop and even though
she tried to fight, in the end sleep had won. Long after she had dozed off, Spike lay
next to her and watched her sleep. It was only when the sun began rising that Spike
allowed himself to rest.


Later that morning, the entangled couple’s slumber was disturbed when someone
entered the room and let out a startled gasp. Grumbling, Spike refused to awaken
and buried his head into Buffy’s neck. Buffy’s eyes slowly opened, blinking to adjust
to the bright lights in the stark white hospital room. Glancing down she noticed that
at some point while she and Spike were sleeping, she had tossed her leg over his
and they were now holding hands. She lightly smiled to herself as Spike continued to
nuzzle the side of her neck, before her attention was turned elsewhere. Standing at
the edge of her bed was an extremely unpleased Angel and her shocked mother.

“May I ask what in the world is going on here?” Joyce asked, startled to find Spike,
whom they barely knew, in bed with her daughter. Buffy tried to answer, but was
interrupted by Angel, who growled, “Spike! Outside. Now.”

Now awake, Spike sighed in defeat and started to get off the bed, but was stopped
when Buffy tightened her grip on his hand. Although her throat was dry and scratchy,
she managed to glare at Angel and inform him that Spike did not have to leave
unless he wanted to. Buffy asked Spike for a glass of water so that they could explain
things, and then gestured to her mother and Angel to take a seat. Joyce obliged and
turned to occupy the seat that Spike had been in last night, but Angel refused and
started pacing.

“Angel, please sit down.” Buffy pleaded, not wanting him to cause a scene. Even
though they had not dated in many years, Angel was still very protective of her and
had a tendency to act before thinking.

Still glowering, Angel appeased Buffy and perched on the windowsill by Joyce’s chair.
He crossed his arms, pouting, and looked at Spike. “So, what the hell happened?
Yesterday when we talked, I thought we had agreed that this would be strictly a
professional relationship, Spike. What I saw was no longer on the business side.”

Spike took a deep breath and tried to explain. The only problem was the blonde
firecracker next to him. Even in her seriously injured state, she managed to put
Angel in his place with just one look. “Angel, I know you are just trying to watch out
for my best interests, but please do not ever go over my head and discuss my
personal relationships without me. Now, if you don’t mind I think my mother would
appreciate some sort of explanation for what’s going on.” She paused briefly, glancing at her brooding ex-boyfriend, before continuing.

When Buffy finished her story of how they had met, sans a couple inappropriate topics,
and that they had both searched for one another after that night only to keep missing each
other. She noticed that Joyce appeared to have a tear in her eye when Buffy confessed
that she probably would not have dated Riley had she been able to see Spike again.
After they talked, Joyce seemed to be genuinely happy that they were together, but Angel continued to pout and walked out of the room.

A few moments later, Angel burst back in with Lorne in tow. The expressions on
their face showing that they were more than a little upset and by something much
larger than Buffy and Spike’s fledgling relationship.

“Gumdrop,” Lorne started, a sour look on his handsome face, “We have a Frank Sinatra
sized problem.” Noticing Buffy’s confused look, he went on to explain that they had a
very big problem and handed her a magazine.

Buffy curiously took it from him, her mouth dropping open when she saw what magazine
Lorne had gave her. It was JUICY, an extremely popular gossip circulation, and her
battered face was plastered all over the front cover with headlines claiming to have all
the sordid details of the night that Riley assaulted her.

**Thank you guys for all of the fantastic reviews! Sorry this chapter is rather short,
but the crazies were out tonight in full force and work was rather busy. (I’m a 911 dispatcher) Anyway, I plan to work on this story a good bit this weekend and will post as per usual
starting on Wednesday. Thanks again!**
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