Two vamps, a girl, and a prophecy

Summary: What happens to Spike (and Angel) after ‘Not Fade Away.’
Rating: NC-17 Explicit sexual descriptions (later on), some language.
Pairings: Dawn/Spike, with a small side of Buffy/Xander.
Feedback: Yes, please. This is my first time posting a fic, so be gentle!
Archive? : Ask me first.
Beta: I need one!
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em. I’m just borrowing them for a while since Joss isn’t using them anymore. If I was making any money off of this, I would own a much better laptop!!!

Chapter 15

Dawn raced down the hall, sliding to a stop and almost falling on her face in front of her bedroom door. Taking a deep breath to gather her courage, she knocked quietly.

“You don’t have to knock on your own door, Luv!” Spike called hoarsely. “Get in here!”

Dawn rolled her eyes at her own awkwardness as she opened the door and walked in. “Hi, Spike.” The nervous smile she’d plastered on her face faded as soon as she saw him, and she quickly looked down at her fingernails to try to hide her dismay. She wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but he looked even more haggard than he had the day before, and she gave herself another mental kick in the head for her contribution to his worsened condition.

“Did Angel not give you the message, or are you just dense?” Spike asked somewhat impatiently after a few moment. Dawn jerked her head up, startled by his tone. “Get over here already! I’ve been waiting to see my girl for hours, and you know I’m not a patient man.” Despite his fragile state, his eyes twinkled brightly, and he smiled warmly at her as he spread his arms wide.

Dawn’s heart skipped a beat, and she flung herself across the room at a speed that might have made any vampire jealous. Just before she reached Spike, however, she froze. “No!”

“No?” He repeated incredulously. “I know I haven’t had the best record with women, Pet, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t misreading the signals…” He gazed pleadingly at her, and absently swiped his fingers though his hair.

“Oh!” Dawn blushed and sat on the edge of the bed, carefully out of reach. “You didn’t! You really, really didn’t…” She looked up at him through her eyelashes and blushed even further when he smirked and did the ‘tongue behind his teeth’ thing again.

“But?” He asked suspiciously, reaching for her with a lecherous smile.

“I can’t touch you!” Dawn blurted, jerking her arm away just before he made contact with her wrist.

“Bloody…Angel…” Spike muttered angrily, throwing his hands in the air disgustedly. “I told him to tell you…”

“He told me what you said,” Dawn sighed. “It might have been the demon talking earlier, but the fact remains, it is dangerous for me to touch you. If I were to accidentally give you another…push…it could kill you next time! It’s not worth the risk!” She declared, crossing her arms across her chest and shaking her head determinedly.

“I beg to differ…I think it’s plenty worth it,” Spike pouted, but Dawn noticed he had withdrawn his hand to a safe distance. “There’s got to be some way around it. You can’t live your whole bloody life without…touching anyone.” His eyes seemed to bore into her as he gave her an extremely meaningful look.

“If you die, it won’t matter,” Dawn whispered, evasively dropping her gaze to the bedspread.

“Hey! None of that!” Spike growled angrily. “I know it doesn’t look too promising for me to have a happily ever after, but you’re only 18. If something happens to me, you have to swear to me…”

“No,” Dawn snapped. “I’m not having this conversation with you!” Her eyes welled with frustrated tears, and she bit back a sob. “You can’t just give up!”

“I don’t want to give up!” Spike yelled, his voice cracking painfully. “I want the world to quit screwing me over! I want to wrap my arms around you, and hold on tight, and never let go! But it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the Powers have something different in mind for me.” He clutched his stomach after this outburst, and Dawn’s own stomach lurched fearfully.

“Are you okay?!” She reached for him without thinking and jerked her hands away at the last possible moment.

“No, I’m not fucking okay!” Spike muttered. His hand moved toward her in a blur of unexpected speed, and he grabbed her hand before she could stop him. She immediately tried to pull away, but he stubbornly held on. “See?” He smiled reassuringly at her after several seconds passed uneventfully, and Dawn stared down at their hands in awe.

“Spike, that was so stupid,” she scolded, shaking her head but smiling affectionately at him all the same.

“No one ever accused me of being overly bright,” Spike grinned, flipping his eyebrows at her. “But it looks like I was right this time…” He tugged her arm gently, and she gave in, moving into his arms with a contented sigh.

“Fine, you were right and I was wrong,” she admitted, pouting exaggeratedly at him as she laid down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Spike wrapped his arms around her tightly and dipped his head to kiss her tenderly on the forehead. “It’s got to happen occasionally, y’know.”

“I really like your timing,” Dawn winked, rolling on her stomach and scooting further up the bed, bringing herself face to face with him. “Spike?” She leaned closer, stopping just before their lips made contact.

“Yeah, Luv?” He murmured, tilting his head slightly to the side, his eyes locked on her mouth.

“I love you,” She whispered, brushing her lips lightly across his, then pulling back a bit to study his face, waiting anxiously for his response.

Spike closed his eyes tightly for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were brimming with unshed tears. “140 years.” He murmured shakily before taking her head in his hands and cutting off her confused reply by covering her mouth with his own. Dawn moaned happily and opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to slip inside. He gently probed her teeth, cheeks, and palate before wrapping his tongue around hers and encouraging her to explore his mouth in return. When she shook her head slightly and sucked on his tongue instead, he growled softly and pressed harder against her, causing their teeth to clash jarringly. “Sorry.” He murmured, not breaking contact.

“S’okay,” Dawn giggled before finally letting him draw her tongue into his mouth, where he sucked it lightly before allowing her to explore the cool, wet space, as he had hers. They both moaned loudly when he released her head and slid his hands down her side to her hips, pulling her on top of him. Dawn carefully straddled his hips and unconsciously ground herself against him. “God, Spike!” She panted, feeling a shock of pleasure shoot through her at the contact.

“Dawn, baby,” Spike sighed in response, lifting his hips and rubbing himself against her through the layers of fabric separating them, as their tongues continued to slide back and forth between their joined mouths. To her amazement, she felt him beginning to harden beneath her in spite of his somewhat feeble state. “I love you so much. Sorry it took me so long to figure out I had the wrong sister…” He murmured, when she drew back slightly for an overdue breath. “You’re the only one who always believed in me. You were there for me from the beginning, even if it was just to tell me when I’d really fucked up…”

“Shhhh.” Dawn shushed him, giggling into his mouth as she recaptured his lips. As they continued to learn every contour of each other’s mouths and grind against each other, she suddenly realized that the pleasant tingling in her stomach wasn’t solely due to arousal; the feeling was spreading through her chest and down her arms, which were currently wrapped tightly around Spike’s neck. “No!” She screamed, jerking away from him so violently that she fell backwards off the bed.