Twining Vines (COMPLETE)

*~*Twining Vines*~* By Echidna

Part V – Meeting Sam .

He stared blindly at the ceiling. His hand rested on the back of his neck as he replayed his last encounter with her. Her harsh words echoed in his ears and he felt his stomach turn in an excruciatingly painful way. “What did I do now?” was the questioned that hammered in his head when he sensed someone crawl from under the trap door to his right. His eyes remained glued to the ceiling, intent on ignoring the woman. He really didn’t feel like hearing her endless babbling.

“Since you’re here… Stop burning those bloody incense sticks. The smell is making me want to heave.” He hissed, closing his eyes.

“I like that smell.”

He heard the distinct sound of sharp footsteps walking about the room.

“Well I hate jasmine. Who buys jasmine scented incense, anyway?” he practically groaned.

“Are you going to be in such a fowl mood all night? Cause I’m seriously reconsidering taking you with me.”

At her words he craned up one lazy eyelid.

“What are you talking about?” Slothfully, he sat up on the sarcophagus; dozy eyes looking for her. A frown settled on his eyebrows as he finally saw her. She was kneeling next to his trunk going through his clothes.

“Don’t you have any clothing that is not adequate for a funeral?” she sighed frustrated, flopping onto the floor and leaning against the chest.

“Once again… Let me see if I can make my question clearer… What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

A wicked grin grew over her lips and she quipped: “We’re stepping out!”

“Huh?”

“We’re going out. Dancing.” She announced matter-of-factly as she stood up and restarted looking through his clothes.

“I don’t dance.” He spat back, slumping onto the sarcophagus to resume analysing the patterns of the ceiling.

“Gee… What is it with you and black?” she mumbled under her breath as she threw away another black piece of clothing.

“Vampire.” He answered dryly.

“A-ha!” she cheered triumphantly as she picked up a red shirt. “Red. It’s an improvement.”

Spike craned his head up to look at her and mumbled:

“Will you stop going through my clothes. I’m not going.” He insisted, sitting up and looking at her.

She stood next to the truck, a bunch of his clothes piled up at her feet while she straightened his infamous red shirt. Spike noticed that, for the first time since he’d met her, she was wearing something other than her dusty old denims and red shirt. Instead, she wore brand new washed-out blue jeans that hung low on her waist. The fabric clung tightly against her thighs down to her knees where it spread out slightly until it reached her ankles. The white tang top that covered her chest had only one strap, which crossed over her right shoulder leaving her left one and sharp collarbone exposed. Between the low cut denims and her top her perfectly flat white stomach peaked out along with her partially exposed navel. To finish off, the thick metal belt that hung low over her hips matched her brown high heeled boots.

“You’re coming.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“And why’s that?” he asked cocking an eyebrow.

“Because you’re driving me insane with the 24/7 Buffy Summers telethon that is running in my brain. Isn’t there anything else in your life worth moping about?” She sighed deeply, taking a pair of black jeans and the red shirt and flinging it towards him. “Now, put those on.”

“Right.” He said as he flopped back onto the sarcophagus, ignoring her, but it seemed impossible as she came to tower over him, whining:

“Oh, come on… I became human for you.”

He opened his eyes sluggishly and frowned when he saw her sulk.

“You became human so you could go shopping.”

“Exactly! So I could look pretty for you.” An unbelievably fake smile took over her lips as she tilted her head looking at him.

“I’m not going.”

“Please…. Pretty please! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease! I can go on for hours, you know?” she informed him with a raised eyebrow as she saw him close his eyes.

She whined until her voice went hoarse but there was absolutely no effect on the apparently sleeping vampire.

“What if I tell you I can guarantee you she is going to be there?” she tried hopeful.

“Who’s she?” he asked looking at her through one eye, while the other remained closed.

“Who do you think, Einstein?” She widened her eyes for a fraction of a second.

“Who says I want to see her? I don’t.”

“Oh, for Christ sake. Let me run this by you one more time:” As she spoke, her hands waved wildly around her as if gesturing to a deaf person. First she pointed to herself. “I can…” She pointed to her eye. “See the…” her hands came together to form the shape of a rectangle. “Pictures that…” Her fingers moved closer and further apart to mimic a blinking effect. “Flash in your…” Finally her index finger came to tap on his forehead. “HEAD! Un-der-stand now?”

Spike simply made a face of disgust.

“I know you’re thinking about her and I know you want to see her. So why are you trying to deny it?”

“Keep the shred of dignity that is left?” he suggested sarcastically.

“Come on. It’ll be fun!” her eyes brightened as she spoke.

He paused, looked at the clothes she had chosen for him, picked them up for a second, her eyes widening for a fraction.

“Goodnight, freckles.” He mumbled, shoving the clothes at her.

~********************************************************************~

“First I thought she was a teaser, but actually she wasn’t.” the ex-demon spoke loudly over the roaring music.

“A teaser?” Willow asked confused.

At that Xander stepped in, a sense of pride causing him to fill up his lungs before he explained:

“A teaser is a person that gives off the first impression that they will buy a lot of things, but in reality don’t. They’re just there to waste your time. And time is money, right honey?” The young man looked at his fiancée who was now lightly rubbing his back as she nodded in approval.

“She bought 20 candles, 40 jasmine smelly sticks plus, three very heavy and very expensive volumes of ‘Witchcraft – Past, Present and Future’.” Anya spoke with a triumphant smile.

“Wow.” Tara tried to sound enthusiastic.

“You bet ya wow. I think I just made a new best friend.” A huge grin spread over Anya’s lips as she sipped from her margarita. “Plus, she gave me this really cool tip on this store down on Roosevelt drive… really cheap prices on bridesmaid’s dresses. This way I can save on those and spend the money on important stuff.” She announced.

“Glad to know we’re not important.” Willow whispered to Tara, who gave her an accomplice’s smile.

~****************************************************************~

“I can’t believe I let you dragged me here.” Spike groaned as he stepped into the loud club.

“Ah, come on. This is where we met.” She gave him a huge smile, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the crowed. “Come on, let’s get a table.”

Spike dragged his feet as he limply followed her. He really wasn’t in the mood for any of this. All he wanted to do was stay at home and mope, as she had put it. The only reason for being there was the hope of finding the petite blond. His eyes scanned the room failing to find her, but he easily detected the familiar Scooby Gang sitting on the other side of the dance floor. Maybe the crazed woman sitting next to him was right - maybe she was going to show up… Now, if only he could ditch his unwanted roommate he might have a chance to figure out what was going on with the Slayer.

“I’m going to the ladies’ room.” The auburn haired woman announced as she stood up and walked away.

“Knock yourself out.”

~******************************************************************~

“Hey guys!” Buffy greeted as she arrived and flopped onto the stool.

“Hey!” the gang replied in unison.

“You sure took your time.” Xander noted as he looked at his wrist watch.

“Didn’t know whether to go for skirt of pants.” The Slayer explained. “Big dilemma.

“See you decided for shirt. Suits you.” Willow complemented the long black skirt her best friend wore.

“Thanks.” Buffy looked around the table and asked: “Where’s Anya?”

“Nature called.” Xander explained. “What about Dawn?”

“I actually let her come, but she got this phone call from Janice. Apparently, the girl found out her boyfriend was cheating on her. Dawn decided to go sleep at her place. You know, do some serious boy-bashing.”

Buffy looked at Willow and smiled as she recalled their own days of boy-bashing. Her eyes scanned the room and she felt her stomach turn as she noticed the platinum head moving through the crowd in her direction. In a blink of an eye, she stood up and walked towards him to meet him half way – away from her friends.

“What are you doing here?” she asked dryly as dancing teenagers engulfed them.

“Mingling.” He answered. “It’s a public place.”

“Are you following me?” she continued her usual enquiry.

“No.”

“Are you actually going to say a sentence tonight?”

“Maybe.”

“Ok, that’s it. I’m leaving.” She said turning to exit when it hit her and she whirled around on her feet to face him. She gasped as she found herself inches away from him. He stood in front of her, the mass of dancing teens around them causing their bodies to come together. A chill ran down her spine as she felt his chest pressed against her, his pelvis pushed towards hers.

~******************************************************************~

“Where did the buffster go?” Xander asked looking around.

“I think she saw someone. I don’t know.” Willow offered as she turned to see Anya approaching.

She was giggling loudly as she spoke with a redhead woman who followed her close behind as they reached the table.

“You guys…” Tara and Xander turned to look at the ex-demon. “This is Samantha, the woman I was telling you about.”

A frowning expression ruled over the three’s faces.

“The woman from the Magic Box, earlier. The one that bought all those things? Xander you remember her, don’t you?” Anya asked, but the young man seemed to be out of it as he gawked at the woman standing next to his fiancée.

“I don’t think he does. You came in to tell Anya about some problem in the back room, remember?” the woman finally spoke.

“Ah! Yes, the woman from the jasmine scented incense sticks. I remember.” Xander finally seemed to snap out of his daze.

In the meantime, the gawkiness seemed to spread over to Willow as she too stared at the new acutance. However, she quickly snapped out of it as she felt a stabbing pain at her side. She turned to see Tara hastily putting away the toothpick she held in her hand.

Willow couldn’t contain a smile as she realised: “She’s jealous!” Her heart suddenly flip-flopped with joy and the auburn haired woman she had just met faded out of her mind as she looked into Tara’s eyes.

Oblivious to the events happening around her, Anya continued the introductions:

“Samantha, this is Willow…” The Wicca managed to look away from the brunette sitting next to her and smiled. “Tara…” With a shy smirk and a nod, Tara greeted the woman who smiled sweetly back at her. “They’re gay!” Xander sighed audibly as Anya announced it loudly. “And finally this is Xander, my apparently eternal fiancée.” The ex-demon grumbled.

“Hey!” Sam greeted as she took a seat next to Anya.

“So, what do you do, Sam?” Willow attempted to start off a conversation.

“I’m in…. security.” ‘Well, technically, I’m not lying.’ She thought to herself. She really hated lying to them, they seemed like nice people.

“Really? H-how?” Tara piped up and got a smile from Willow.

“I’m sort of like a… bodyguard.” Samantha managed to say as her eyes drifted over the crowd and she spotted the unmistakable platinum head of her roommate. A smirk grew on her face as she noticed the petite blond standing next to him for a split second before they were engulfed by the crowd.

~****************************************************************************~

Spike swallowed hard as they stared at each other, their faces inches apart. She was so close, closer than she’d ever gotten to him since… He wasn’t able to finish his thought as she pushed him away, causing him to stumble backwards.

“You know something? I’m not leaving. I’m here with my friends to have fun and I’m not gonna to let you ruin this for me like you do everything else.” She spat out. “You wanna stay, be my guest.” And with that she whirled around to leave but the feel of cold fingers gripping her forearm stopped her. Another chill ran down her spine as she turned around.

“Why are you acting like this? What did I do wrong? Is this about the egg thing? I said I was-”

She stared at him with disgust. Why was he rubbing it in? He knew exactly why she was like this. He had come to her workplace and… A wave of nausea washed over her at the memory. “He knows I saw him. I mean, he went to MY workplace to show off his new bed partner.” Anger boiled inside of her, clouding her thoughts.

“It’s not about the eggs. I just realised I don’t want anything to do with you. You’re a disgusting-“

She was cut off as she saw a woman come up from behind Spike and elbow him.

“Hey!” the strange woman greeted.

A little stunned, Spike turned to see Samantha standing next to him with a huge grin. Somehow, she looked different. His eyes drifted towards her hair and he noticed that for the first time she had it down. Only then did he realise just how long it was. It fell around her and down to her lower back; each groups of auburn threads turning five or six times in large loops until they reached the edge of her white tang top, which now glowed as a result of the lighting in the club. He was taken a bit by surprise, frowning in confusion, but was snapped out of it as Samantha spoke:

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Ah… Buffy!” he exclaimed in surprise. “This is….” His mind raced as he tried to remember the woman’s name and after a while he realised he didn’t know. He frowned, wondering how he could be living with someone without even knowing his or her name. “This is…” he repeated.

“Your skanky ho?!” Buffy offered in her thoughts, the fake smile never leaving her face.

“Sam!” the woman finally intervened, outstretching her hand and offering a big grin.

Reluctantly, the small blond responded and took her hand, making sure to apply a little of her Slayer strength and only letting go when she heard something snap put of place.

Sam, felt a tear form in her eye as the pain ran from her hand straight to her spine, but her smile never faded and between clenched teeth she greeted:

“Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too.” Buffy replied much less enthusiastically. ‘So you’re the smutty ho Spike’s been humping against the wall.’ She felt her stomach turn as her mind manipulated the images it had stored and pasted the redhead’s face over the giant question mark it had been working with since that night.

Sam frowned as she got a clear picture of herself being bumped against the wall by Spike’s body coming from the petite blond in front of her. She couldn’t help but cringe at the thought before realising it was not an actual memory but a visualization.

An awkward silence settled between the three as they stood in the middle of the crowd. Eventually, Sam made a move:

“Well, we better get going. It’s getting late and we have to get up early in the morning.” She tried to control the smile off her face, as she saw the meaning of her words sink into the petite blond.

“We do?” Spike asked confused.

“Yes, we gotta do that… thing.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you from the… thing.” Buffy swallowed hard as she pictured what exactly the ‘thing’ was.

Sam cringed as it flashed before her eyes. ‘God, don’t you people think of anything besides sex?’ she thought to herself.

“Thing?” The vampire remained oblivious to the on going war around him, his stare going from the redhead to the blond and back again.

“Well, goodnight then.” Sam finally said, practically tearing the vampire’s arm off as she hurled him away.

Buffy simply stood there with a tight knot in her stomach, repressing the uncontrollable urge to vomit.

~+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++~

“THAT was the woman that was in the shop today?” Xander asked in disbelief. The woman who had been in the Magic Box that day didn’t seemed one bit as interesting as the one who had spent the past five minutes talking to them. She had been wearing some old jeans and a large red shirt, plus she had her hair tied up and he had never gotten close enough to see her face.

“Yes.” Anya repeated for the third time, sighing.

“S-she seemed nice.” Tara offered.

“Yeah, she was – Oh, hey Buffy!” Willow greeted with a smile, but it crumbled the moment she saw the look on her friend’s face.

“What happened?” Xander asked concerned.

“Nothing. I’m just not feeling well. I think I’m gonna throw up.”

“Are you ok?” Xander continued his questioning.

“She just said she was gonna puke, she’s not ok, Xander.” Anya rolled her eyes.

“I think I’ll head home.” Buffy had to lean on the table for support and within instants she had Xander and Willow by her side holding her up.

“Here, we’ll take you.” Xander offered as he took a few bills from his pocket and tossed it onto the table.

“What, we’re going home? Already?” Anya protested as she followed the group towards the exit.

~+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++~

“Will you explain to me what the bloody hell that was all about?” Spike bellowed as he walked after Sam between the gravestones.

“What?” She asked innocently.

“What do you mean ‘what’? The whole ‘thing’ thing… and the looks you two were having.” Spike continued to shout after her.

“Nothing. I just wanted to go home. I was tired.”

“Tired? We had just gotten there.” The vampire stopped dead in his tracks as a light bulb lit up in his mind: “What did you do in the loo?” he asked with a cocked up eyebrow.

“Huh… Is sex permanently branded on your brain?” she questioned in disgust as she pushed the door open and entered the crypt.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Well, I didn’t jump any waitress in a schoolgirl uniform. Whind ind of twisted fantasy is that anyway?” She took the stairs two by two and in seconds was laying belly up on the bed. “God, I love this bed!” she sighed relieved as she spread out her arms.

“You bloody well should! Took you long enough to choose it!” he grumbled as he remembered that afternoon.

She made little circles with her legs as they dangled off the bed.

“Now are you gonna tell me, or not?”

“For someone who’s 100 and change, you’re very green, aren’t you? Do you even know anything about girls?” she asked with a smile, but it was wiped off her face as a couple of images flashed before her eyes. “And we’re off to the Playboy Special.” She mumbled to herself. “I’m pretty sure you know a lot when it come to the horizontal tango, stud, but when it come to a woman’s mind you’re just as illiterate as a… frog.”

“A frog?” His scared eyebrow shot up.

“Sorry. First thing that came to mind. I’m very bad with analogies.” She shrugged. “Anyway… Being you’re guardian angel I decided to help you and help myself out in the process. Basically, I plan to get you to stop moping around and picturing that girl 24/7. She’s cute, don’t get me wrong, but I’m more of a Brad Pitt sort of person when it comes to blonds.”

“And what is your amazing plan?” He asked sarcastically.

“Make her jealous.” She stated simply.

“Jealous? About what?”

“You may not have noticed, but that girl was practically chewing my head off back there.” She informed him as she massaged her sore hand. “I think she snapped a ligament out of place, or something.” She mumbled to herself.

“She was?”

“Believe me. I got a pretty picture in my head that told me so. The way I see it, you only know what you want when you lose it. You know, like kids and toys.”

“Kids and toys?”

“Yes. When a kid gets a brand-new toy he plays with it for hours until he gets sick of it, and throws it away.” She started.

“Buffy is the kid and I’m the toy in this intricate analogy of yours, I assume?”

“Yes.”

“And I got thrown away?”

“Yes, no offence.”

“None taken.” Spike shook his head, leaning on the wall as he crossed his arms over his chest and patiently waited to see where this was going.

“So, when another kid come along – me – and starts to play with it…”

“Hey, no offence but I’m not planning on letting you… ‘Play with it’.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t plan to either. I just want her to think I am playing. Anyway, shut up and listen. You’re ruining my story. When the first kid – Buffy – sees the second kid – me – play with the toy, suddenly, it wants it again. The first it being Buffy and the second being you.” She added.

“I get it.” Spike stood up straight and looked at her. “You’re really lousy at analogies.

To Be Continued...