The Story of B

Part Three
Descent

Buffy had watched him jerk on his pants, jerk the zipper up, jerk his belt closed.

What a jerk!

All she'd been trying to do is go home. Out all night - nobody knowing if she was alive or dead. Again. She'd *never* just not gone home without calling and telling someone, except when she'd been fighting demons or -

She shook off that thought. No one had known where she was and she was trying to get home. That was her story and she was stickin' to it.

He'd almost seduced her into staying. Damn his hands anyway! Then he'd made that really crude remark that brought her to her senses triple-time. Just another reason never to sleep with him again in his unlifetime.

"I'm through being your whipping boy!"

As if! She'd been the one who'd gotten the verbal shakedown for weeks. And then there was his whole happy dance last night over the fact that *he* thought the resurrection spell had gone wrong. That *she* had come back wrong. He'd seemed pretty pleased at the idea of her being brought down to his level - all demony or something. Pretty shitty reaction for somebody who claimed to love her.

Jerk!

And then, *then* he'd had to bring Angel into it! As if Angel had something to do with this! What she and Angel had was once in a lifetime. Sweet and pure and soft. She'd been with Angel one time - one time and her world had fallen apart around her.

Double Jerk!

She didn't know why she'd ever said he was convenient anyway. Spike and the word 'convenient' didn't belong in the same sentence. Even the same universe.

Spike had gotten up (don't think about it!) and jerked on his jerk pants and started in, all puffed up with self-righteous anger.

He'd been looking awfully good all fired up like that. Hot.

Remember the Slayer remark. Angel remark. Remember the bad part. Don't think about him all bare chest, bare arms -

Don't think about his bare ass. Bad Buffy!

Couldn't believe she'd had sex with him! Maybe she *had* come back wrong.

Had sex with him so many times, she'd lost count.

She wondered how many times.

She was insane. Except - well, she'd always liked fighting with him. And it had been all violent and - that is, until it wasn't.

She'd floated off to sleep with him murmuring in her ear, playing with her hair -

So nice. Until she'd woken up and it was morning and he was all smug about it. All satisfied like he'd finally gotten his way.

Almost boyfriendy. Like having sex with him had meant anything anyway!

She'd known she was going to pay for it, just thought she might have a little while to bask in the afterglow.

Vampires got her hot? Well, in her line of work, those were the guys she met. Except for Xander or Giles.

Squick!

How dare he compare her making love with Angel to having sex with him! There *was* no comparison! She giggled.

Bad Buffy! Bad!

And he was pushing, pushing, pushing her.

She should've pushed him into that big sharp piece of wood that had been right there, all convenient.

She would've, too. If she hadn't also had the wild insane desire to just give in and have another 'go.'

Yeek! She was thinking in Spikespeak! What had she done?

It wasn't like she was going to wake up and find out it didn't matter if she was the Slayer and he was a vampire. Right?

Reality check. No soothing heartbeat to go to sleep listening to. No remedy for cold bed-feet. No long walks in the sunshine.

What had she been thinking?

Oh, yeah. No thinkage. Just sexage. Over and over and over and -

Okay, stop thinking. And ignore the fact that you've got a deliciously sore spot between your legs that's a constant reminder of how you spent last night.

It had happened once.

Well, maybe not once -

Okay, it had happened one *night*.

All night.

But it was so not happening again. He'd just slipped in, that was all. (Oh, yes, he had!) Okay, she admitted, she'd *invited* him in. With a big gaudy engraved invitation that said "Sex Here" on the front of the card.

Big, big mistake. Except -

Sleep. She just needed sleep. Obviously, she was tired. She must be if she was thinking about having sex with him again.

She was! She was thinking about having sex with him again. Bad Buffy!

So not happening again!

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Well, she'd *had* to find Dawn, hadn't she? And she'd been all over the place. The problem was she didn't have any informants. She usually just killed them. Willie had shut down on her. Scared to death.

She'd started to get really nervous. And she had only one informant she hadn't killed yet.

Spike.

Then, she was even more nervous.

First, she'd actually stood outside the door of the crypt. Finally, she'd actually knocked. Then she'd actually gone inside. Actually yelled for him, but not very loudly. And she'd actually gone down to the lower level, fully knowing that she was going into his bedroom.

Talk about nervous.

She'd eased down the steps and there he was: sleeping the sleep of the undead evil thing. And looking really gorgeous doing it.

Dawn. Think about Dawn. Dawn was in trouble.

And oh boy, so was she!

She couldn't just walk over there. He'd get the wrong idea if she just walked over and woke him up. Might think she was thinking of -

Dawn! And Willow. Willow was obviously over the edge. She *hated* it when Xander was right.

She'd picked up the closest thing that wasn't nailed down and lobbed it at him.

Oh, and then he'd become his usual disgusting self. Thank God! Magically he'd gotten over it immediately. For Dawn.

Dawn had him so whipped. Up and out of bed -

Oh, boy! Turn, turn, turn!

Could vampires smell it when you were turned on? God, she hoped not. Maybe if she pissed him off enough, he wouldn't notice.

She could do that.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What a night! Dawn's arm was broken. Willow had crashed from her high in the privacy of her mother's bedroom while Spike was doing the parenty stuff at the hospital.

What was wrong with this picture?

Buffy looked up at the garlic strands hanging over the window, while clutching a wooden cross.

And this one?

He wasn't coming.

He really wasn't coming.

No chance to say her piece. Reject him while she was still resolute and strong. Tell him that this was crazy - that there was nowhere for this to go but straight down.

He never had found the place where Willow and Dawn were supposed to be. She'd thought at first he was stalling so that he could be with her.

Of course he'd never do that if Dawn were in trouble. Stupid Buffy. And if she had just left him alone, let him look for Rack's place, they might never have started talking about last night.

God, he'd been so sure of himself. She'd tried to tell him that it was a one time thing. He didn't even break stride.

"But I'm in your system now."

She'd flushed.

Bastard.

"You're gonna crave me, like I crave blood."

She didn't have a snappy comeback for that.

Cocky bastard.

"And the next time you come crawling, if you don't stop being such a bitch, maybe I will bite you."

Class A number one first-string bastard! Good thing they'd heard Dawn then. She might have staked him then and there. Just for being such a shit. He really *did* think he was God's gift!


Then, Spike had gone to Dawn, while she'd taken care of the demon - oied ied to anyway.

Made her think twice about just leaving Willow there, alone and crying.

Took Dawn to the emergency room and waited for her. (Pacing like a caged animal, worried sick by the time Buffy'd finally arrived after taking Willow home)

Gotten his car as she'd gone in to sit with Dawn while they set her arm.

Held the car door open as she'd picked Dawn up to carry her inside the house.

And just left. She'd been so sure he'd be back to continue their conversation ..


He really wasn't coming.

TBC