Never be the Same Again

Chapter 25

“Shh!” Willow giggled to Tara as she opened the front door, the stage whisper she used came out almost louder than if she’d spoken normally. “We have to be quiet – Buffy’s probably in bed asleep by now.” Tara looked at her watch, which showed the time to be just after midnight and nodded emphatically to her girlfriend before pointing down the stairs.

“I need a drink of water, are you coming?”
re.”re.”

The two girls tried to tiptoe down the stairs to the living room rather unsuccessfully, *Which could have something to do with the two, no three, bottles of wine we’ve drunk tonight,* Willow reflected before tripping down the final step and falling into the living room.

Buffy looked up from the book she had been reading, slightly startled by the sudden appearance of a somewhat inebriated Willow. The redhead smiled sheepishly and picked herself up off the floor as Tara entered the room somewhat more gracefully.

“Hiya Buffy! You have a nice night?” Tara asked her.

“Oh, you know. Watched a bit of TV, read some.” She indicated the book she was holding, trying not to blush. For some reason she didn’t want to mention her talk with Spike. Even though nothing had actually happened, the mere thought of their conversation seemed to be able to set her face ablaz“You“You?” she asked nonchalantly, trying to deflect attention away from her.

“We had a great time!” Tara enthused. “Might have drunk a little too much though…” she trailed off.

“Glad you had a good time. Ooh – I was wondering if you two wanted to go on a shopping spree tomorrow?” Buffy asked eagerly – determined to have something to do this weekend. Willow and Tara glanced at each other awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, Buffy. We kind of have plans…” Willow told her friend, tone td wid with regret. Buffy tried to hide her disappointment.

“That’s okay. No big,” she said with a smile. “Maybe Xander wants to do something…”

“Don’t you know?” Willow asked, slightly surprised.

“Know what? There was something that I was s’posed to know?” Buffy asked quickly, wondering if she’d been told and had forgotten.

“Xander took Anya away for the weekend. He didn’t actually say as much, but I think he might be going to propose to her!” Willow declared excitedly.

Buffy pouted. “Now that is something I would have remembered. Which can only lead me to the conclusion that nobody told me. Okay, it’s official – I am the only one round here with no life!” She stood up and walked across the room. “That’s it, I’ve had enough. I’m going,” she declared as she flounced up the stairs. The two other girls followed her into her bedroom.

“Buffy, it’s after midnight. Where exactly are you intending to go?” Willow asks shs she watched her friend pull random clothes out of her wardrobe and stuff them haphazardly into the bag she’d pulled from under the bed.

“Leeds,” Buffy said simply as she zipped up the bag.

“You’re going to see Spike? Do you even know where he lives?” Willow couldn’t believe that her friend was actually going to leave in the middle of the night to drive somewhere she’d never been before.

“I have his address,” Buffy thought for a second. “And I have to use your computer to download the directions. It’ll only take a minute and then I’ll be going.” She marched purposefully towards Willow’s room, the two astonished girls in tow.

“Does he know you’re coming?” Tara asked.

“No. So I guess it’ll be a nice surprise for him, won’t it?” Buffy decided as she pressed print.

“So, let me get this straight, you’re going to leave Manchester in the middle of the night and drive through the dark some 100-odd miles…” Willow began. Buffy looked at her piece of paper.

“Actually, according to this, it’s only 57 miles…”

“Some 57 miles,” Willow amended. “To a house you’ve never been to, to spend the weekend with a guy who doesn’t even know that you’re coming?” Willow’s tone was incredulous now, but her whole speech had been said as she followed Buffy to the front door of the flat.

“That’s about the size of it,” Buffy said with a smile as she walked out of the door and closed it behind her.

*~*~

Buffy pulled over to the side of the road and switched on the overhead light as she peered at what now seemed like a fairly flimsy bit of white paper.

She hadn’t really let herself think about what she was doing when she left the flat in Manchester almost an hour ago. She’d been pissed off that she suddenly seemed to be out of the loop – her so-called friends seemed to be completely wrapped up in their own lives and relationships and Buffy suddenly felt left behind. She’d just had to get out of there and Spike had been the first person she’d thought of.

*After all, he had been practically begging me to visit him.*

But now, it didn’t seem like such a great plan after all. It was past 1am, the streets were dark and deserted and she had no ideere ere she was. Spike was bound to be in bed asleep and Buffy didn’t want to contemplate what she would do if she couldn’t wake him when she finally arrived at him flat.

She peered again at the map and at the streetoundound her as she tried to get her bearings. *These damned English streets are so confusing – the directions just don’t make sense* she declared, not for the first time.

Finally she managed to work out where she was and pulled off again, satisfied that she wasng ing in the right direction.

*~*~

It was a very tired Buffy that pulled up outside Spike’s flat half an hour later. She dragged herself out of the car, picking up her bag as she locked it, and walked towards the front d dou double checking the address as she did so – she had no great wish to wake up some complete stranger in the middle of the night.

She took a deep breath and then lifted a fist to knock on the door.

There was no answer.

She bit her lip nervously as she wondered if he was in.

*Of course he’s in, stupid – you spoke to him less than three hours ago. What kind of a person goes out at 11 o’clocknighnight?*

She decided not to answer that one.

Buffy knocked again, louder this time and stood nervously on the doorstep, contemplating the thought of the possible drive home.

She was pulled out of her despair by the sound of footsteps at the other side of the door and she smiled when she heard the familiar grumble.

“What the bloody hell? Do you even know what bloody time it is?”

Spike wrenched open the door and stopped his tirade mid-flow as he stared at the petite figure on his doorstep. His mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide as he searched for something to say.

“My, my. We are grumpy tonight, aren’t we?” Buffy said teasingly as she pushed past him and into his flat. He yielded to her without a word. “I said that I’d think about it. Well, I did – and here I am. Aren’t youasedased to see me?”

Chapter 26
“Really, you look surprised to see me!” Buffy declared in a disbelieving tone, trying not to laugh as Spike stood at the door, gawping at her, completely speechless. She watched, amused, as he visibly managed to school himself into some semblance of his normal persona.

“Summers,” he smirked. “Just couldn’t stay away from me, eh?”

“You wish!” she snorted derogatively before turning and walking further into the flat. Spike closed doordoor before following her.

He knew that she wasn’t here because he’d asked her; at least, that wasn’t the only reason. He’d thought about it a lot over the summer and now his eyes were clear. He didn’t kid himself that this - *Whatever this is* he thought – was about him. This wasn’t about him at all. This was entirely about her.

”So, why are you here?” he asked her as he caught up with her in the living room. She was standing by one of the bookshelves he had put up on the far side of the room, scanning titleitles there. She ran a finger along the spines of the books on the shelf reng tng to look at him.

“Had nothing better to do,” she said, casually.

He caught her wrist and pinned her up against the wall. *This might be her game, but that doesn’t mean I can’t change the rules a little,* he thought to himself as he pressed his body against hers until she raised her gaze to met his.

“Is that right?” he asked slowly, enunciating each word as though he were savouring it, never dropping his gaze from hers.

Buffy swallowed unconsciously as she was held in place both physically, by his body pressed hard against hers, and also by the intensity of his blue eyes. Her pupils dilated and she licked her lips as her breathing quickened. Spike noticed the change and smiled at her.

“Oh, yeah – you’re definitely only here because you had nothing better to do!” he laughed sarcastically, before suddenly releasing her and turning away. “Well, since that’s the case, the couch is there – I’ll get you some spare blankets,” he called over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.

Buffy frowned as she found herself suddenly alone. Things weren’t exactly progressing the way she’d expected them to.

Spike walked back into the room carrying a single blanket he’d hastily dragged from the back of his wardrobe. He stifled a smile at the confused look on the girl’s face. He walked over to the couch and started to lay out the blanket.

“Something the matter, pet?” he asked, turning to look at her over his shoulder. She just stared at him. He leisurely finished making up the couch before strolling over to her, making sure to take his time.

“Oh! I get it!” he announced as he reached her, as if the thought had only just occurred to him. “You didn’t realise I didn’t have a spare bed? Not used to having to sleep on the sofa, right luv?” he said with a smile.

“No. I didn’t think I’d be sleeping on the sofa…” she agreed thoughtfully, trying to hint at more. She wasn’t sure what was going on here – their phone call earlier had suggested so much more – but here she was, preparing for a night on the sofa. Spike decided to ignore the obviously leading tone of her voice – this was far too much fun.

“No?” He asked, letting a hint of desire drip into his tone. Buffy caught it and smiled slightly, suddenly catching onto the game he was playing. She took a step closer and looked at him through hooded eyes.

“No. It just looks sooo uncomfortable. And I always get this little crick in my neck. Just. About. Here.” As she spoke she ran a delicate, perfectly manicured finger down the side of her neck, before letting it trace down and round into the curve of her throat. Unable to help himself, Spike’s eyes followed the single digit and his mouth suddenly went very dry.

“Oh,” he croaked and moistened his mouth before he went on. “Well, we can’t have that then, can we?”

“No, we can’t, can we?” she purred as she closed the small distance between them so that they were standing facing each other, a mere hairsbreadth apart. She looked at him, an expression of pure lust on her face and Spike wondered if he could take this little game any further or whether he should just give up and give into her right now – it would be so easy.

*But then, when was I ever one to chose the easy path?* he asked himself wryly.

“Well, I could always take the sofa instead, pet…” he started.

“Shut up, Spike,” Buffy told him firmly before reaching up and pulling him down into a passionate kiss. Spike just nodded fervently as he returned it, grasping her round the waist and pulling her body flush against his.

Her fingers found their way into his hair and she played with the platinum blonde locks, as her mind was lost to pure sensation. All she had left behind – her friends with their seemingly perfect lives, her newfound loneliness – none of it mattered here, in his arms. All of it melted away until all that was left was the moment.

They broke the kiss, both breathing heavily and for a moment they stood there, wrapped in each other’s embrace, just looking at each other. No words were said, but a silent agreement seemed to pass between them that the subject of what this was would never come up between them. The agreement was sealed when Spike leaned in to kiss her passionately once more.

She returned the kiss as her hands slipped under the back of his shirt to touch the skin there. He groaned into her mouth as her fingers brushed lightly over the skin at the base of his spine.

“God, Buffy!” he moaned as she began to lightly run her fingers up and down the length of his back, teasing and tickling the skin with feather light touches until he could stand it no longer. She shrieked with surprise as he swiftly moved and flipped her tiny figure up into his arms.

“Spike! What the hell do you think you’re doing!” she squealed as he walked across the room. “Put me down! Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to bed, pet. Where do you think we’re going?” he said as he walked into another room.

The room was decorated in earth tones, the walls a rich shade of cream, complimented by a tan-coloured carpet on the floor and rich chocolate tones in the bedspread and curtains. Tasteful black and white framed prints completed the fairly minimalist decoration of the large bedroom.

All of this was lost on Buffy and she was carried shrieking and laughing over to the king-sized bed, where she was unceremoniously dumped.

She lay on the bed for a minute or two, watching the man who stood over her at the edge of the bed as she caught her breath. Then she looked up at him, a playful smile ghosting across her full lips.

“So,” she purred softly. “Now you’ve whisked me away to your bed, what do you plan on doing with me?” Spike smiled and pounced, landing on top of her, weight supported by his arms, which were positioned at either side of her head. He leaned in until his nose was almost touching hers and smiled.

“Keep you here, of course,” he said with a raise of one eyebrow before leaning in to capture her mouth in another searing kiss. Buffy smiled to herself as she returned it, *Now this is more how I expected it to go.*