Second Chances

Series: Second Chances
Author: Princess Joyce
Rating: PG-13 or T for this chapter

A/N: It would help to have seen ‘Phases’, but it’s not entirely necessary


Phases

Buffy and Willow slowly walked to school, enjoying the warm early February morning. Sunnydale, California might be teeming with evil, but you certainly couldn’t complain about the weather.

The Slayer remained quiet as the redhead ranted about the lack of action she had experienced with her boyfriend, Oz.

“… I mean, he said he was gonna wait until I was ready, but I'm ready. Honest. I'm good to go here,” she complained.

Buffy thought about her disastrous night with Angel a few weeks ago, and repressed a shudder.

“Well, I think it's nice that he's not just being an animal,” she commented.

“It is nice. He's great. We have a lot of fun. But I want smoochies!”

“Have you dropped any hints?”

“I've dropped anvils,” Willow moaned.

“Ah, he'll come around. What guy could resist your wily Willow charms?” Buffy teased, amused at her friend’s dramatics.

“At last count, all of them. Maybe more,” she responded wryly.

Buffy glanced at her watch, they still had a good half hour before first period.

“Well, none of them know a thing. They all get an 'F' in Willow,” she said heading toward an empty bench in the school courtyard.

“But I want Oz to get an 'A', and, oh, one of those gold stars,” Willow whined.

Buffy sighed and sank down on the bench.

“He will,” she assured her friend.

Willow joined her on the bench.

“Well, he better hurry. I don't want to be the only girl in school without a real boyfriend!”

That hurt. It really did. Buffy knew that she wasn’t being deliberately cruel, but that didn’t make it any less painful. She looked down before Willow could see the tears that had sprung up in her eyes.

“Oh, I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't even be talking about... Do you want me to go away?” Willow asked, genuinely sorry.

Buffy took a breath and looked up at her with a forced a smile.

“I wish you wouldn't.”

She meant it. She really didn’t want to be left alone with her thoughts.

“How are you holding up anyway?” Willow asked, dutifully.

“I'm holding. I was going on two minutes there without thinking about Angel,” she admitted.

“What about Spike? You haven’t mentioned him in a while.”

A real smile tugged at her lips as she thought about her vampire ‘partner’.

“He’s been great. It’s kind of strange, actually. I thought he’d be all over me with Angel out of the picture, but he’s been very polite and respectful.”

Well, polite and respectful for Spike anyway. He mostly avoided discussing Angel. The only time they had talked about what happened, Spike had seemed unusually melancholy about the whole situation. It made her wonder just how close the two vampires had been.

It was nice to be with someone who was grieving with her. Willow liked Angel, but her sorrow was for Buffy. Xander and Giles had never really cared for Angel. Spike was the only one besides Buffy who seemed to be sorry that the dark haired vampire had… changed. Not that Spike would ever admit it.

Buffy didn’t know what she would have done if he hadn’t been there for her. According to Spike she would have done just fine without him, but they both knew the pain would have been greater for her.

“Spike talks a lot more than he used to. I think it’s so that I don’t have to. He’s really been around and seen a lot. It’s funny how much he enjoys his life,” she continued thoughtfully.

“Oh, well that’s really nice…” Willow said with a strained smile.

Buffy resisted the urge to sigh. Willow was still uncomfortable with Spike. The redhead said she’d feel better if he had a soul. However, not having a soul meant that he couldn’t lose it. And Buffy found that she preferred it that way.

“I would do a lot better if you and Xander and I could do that 'sharing our misery' thing tonight.”

It had been a while since the three of them had hung out. Especially since Xander had a new girlfriend.

“Great. I'll give Xander a call. What's his number? Oh, yeah, 1-800-I'm-Dating-A-Skanky-Ho,” Willow said, rolling her eyes.

“Meow!” Buffy said, astonished.

This Xander-Cordelia thing was bothering Willow a lot more than Buffy had realized.

“Really? Thanks. I've never gotten a 'meow' before,” Willow smiled, pleased with herself.

“Well-deserved.”

“Darn tootin'. I'm just saying Xander and Cordelia? I mean, what does he see in her anyway?”

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“It’s quiet. Too quiet,” Buffy commented to Spike as they patrolled late that night.

Spike scanned the empty cemetery and nodded in agreement. She sighed, wanting to tell him that it was his quietness that was really bothering her.

“Angelus hasn’t turned up in almost two weeks. He’s up to something,” Spike muttered, distractedly.


Buffy shuddered and suddenly found herself wrapped in Spike’s leather duster. She sent him a questioning look but he had resumed walking as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

She allowed herself a moment to indulge in breathing in the scent of leather, smoke and liquor that she had come to associate with Spike. It was comforting.

They made rounds of two more cemeteries before deciding to give up for the night. Apparently the evil nasties of the Hellmouth were keeping a low profile tonight.

“C’mon, I’ll walk you home,” he said turning toward the appropriate direction.

Buffy frowned, but followed his lead.

When they reached her house he simply nodded at her and turned to leave.

“Hey!”

He stopped and turned back with an eyebrow raised.

She blushed at her outburst, unsure of what she should say.

“Um, don’t you want your coat back?” She asked, finally.

He tilted his head, knowing that there was something else.

“You can give it back tomorrow night,” he said slowly.

Buffy nodded and looked down.

Spike sighed and walked back up to her.

“What is it, Slayer?”

She shrugged, still looking at the ground.

Spike looked up at the house noticing how dark it was.

“Your mum not home?”

She shook her head.

“Art buying trip in Nevada.”

He nodded and they stood in silence for a moment.

“Do you… wanna come in?” Buffy asked finally, lifting her chin to look him in the eye.

He blinked, but kept his face carefully blank.

“Do you want me to come in?” He asked, not sure what she wanted from him.

Her eyes darted away from his.

“I don’t like being alone. Especially at night…” She trailed off and looked back at him hopefully.

He looked at the house, then back at her and shook his head.

“No.”

She blinked in surprise.

“No? Why not? What’s wrong, Spike? You don’t want me now that Angel’s had me?” She demanded, not even noticing the tears that were spilling onto her cheeks.

Spike laughed, and pulled her up against him for a hug. She clung to him crying into his shirt. After a minute she pulled back and slapped him.

He grinned and pulled her back up against him. Her eyes widened in shock at what she felt pressing into her belly and she used her Slayer strength to pull away from him.

“You like it when women slap you?” She asked her eyes flicking back and forth between his eyes and crotch warily.

“Only you baby,” he said, still grinning.

Buffy glared at him and ran to her house, sighing in relief when the door closed.

Unfortunately he was only a few seconds behind her.

“Wait just one minute, Slayer. Why are you angry with me?” He demanded, practically taking the door down with his entrance.

Buffy crossed her arms and glared at him.

“You are… I just… You don’t make any sense!” She shouted.

“I don’t make any sense?” He asked, incredulous.

“Yes. Before Angel… you were all over me. And then after… you were different, but I still felt a connection. Tonight, you barely said two words to me! And you turned me down when I offered…” she trailed off uncertainly.

“What exactly where you offering Slayer? Sex?”

She flinched, and he turned away to take a deep, but unneeded breath.

“I’ve been straight with you. You’ve known all along how much I want you,” he said, turning his head to the side so that though he had his back to her, she could see his face profile.

The moonlight coming through the front windows made him seem to glow. He was breathtaking.

“After Angel… I gave you friendship cause that was what you needed. But, Slayer, I want more than that. I guess that tonight I just wasn’t in the mood to play ‘pretend’. I have something else to do tonight anyway.”

Spike turned to face her fully, his face in shadow.

“When you accused me of not wanting you earlier, I showed you that I did, and you got mad. What do you want from me Slayer?”

Buffy walked toward him, but stopped when she was a few feet away.

“W-would it make you happy if I had sex with you? Is that what you want? What you need?” She asked, cringing at how weak her voice sounded.

“Yes and no. I don’t want you if you don’t want me,” he said firmly.

She closed the distance between them and tilted her head up to him.

“I want you, Spike,” she said closing her eyes and offering her lips to him.

Her eyes flew open when his lips landed on her forehead. He turned her around by her shoulders and gave her a slight push toward the stairs.

“Go pack an overnight bag. We’re going to my place,” he said and sat down in a chair to wait.

Buffy’s hands were trembling as she crammed clothes and make-up into a bag. Did she really want this? Could she really have sex with Spike so soon after Angel?

She shuddered as she thought back to that night. Most of it was blur, but she remembered the pain. She knew that it was supposed to hurt her first time, but it had still surprised her. Angel had been gentle and loving, and it had been easy to push the pain out of her mind.

But later, when Angel was no longer…himself, he had told her that she wasn’t good. He implied that he hadn’t really enjoyed it. It had made her feel cheap. Would Spike say the same thing?

Buffy looked around her room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.

‘I don’t want to be the only girl in school without a real boyfriend…’ Willow’s words from that morning echoed in her mind.

She didn’t want to lose Spike. And if that meant sleeping with him, then that’s what she’d do. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done it before.

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Less than an hour later Buffy was lying in Spike’s bed staring at the ceiling and wishing he would hurry up and get it over with already. Ten minutes ago he had gone into the bathroom, and had not yet come out. Was he taking a bath? Did he want her to come looking for him?

She climbed out of bed and made her way toward the closed bathroom door. Her heart seemed to beat faster with every step and she mentally chastised herself for being so nervous. She hadn’t been anywhere near this nervous with Angel.

Buffy slowly eased the door open, careful not to make a sound. What she saw had her jaw dropping in shock.

Spike was shirtless, wearing only a pair of well-worn jeans. He was bent over the floor, carefully laying stone tiles. He had a book propped open against the wall that he would turn to consult every few minutes, a pencil behind his ear, and a ruler in his hand. He muttered to himself under his breath as he shifted a tile slightly, then made a triumphant sound as it slipped into place like a puzzle.

This was not a man about to have sex. In fact, it occurred to Buffy that at that moment, sex was probably the furthest thing from his mind.

She felt silly as she slowly shut the door and went back to the bed. Slipping between the satin sheets, she was almost giddy with relief. Spike had never made her do anything she hadn’t wanted to. He cared about her; he proved it time and time again.

He’d probably been too busy thinking about his tile project tonight to pay her much attention. His project was more than likely the reason he had said no when she asked him in. Buffy shook her head and yawned. Had she always been so self-centered?

Buffy snuggled under the bedding and drifted off feeling more relaxed than she had in days, secure in the knowledge that Spike wasn’t going anywhere.

It was close to dawn when she felt him slip into bed beside her. Without hesitation, she turned to him and rested her head on his chest. His arms wound around her, and tightened, holding her against his body. As she drifted off again, she could have sworn she heard the lonely howl of a wolf.

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“And you're sure it was a werewolf?” Buffy asked Xander at school the next morning.

She was studying a large hole that had been ripped in the top of Cordelia’s car.

“Well, let's see, um, six feet tall, claws, a big old snout in the middle of his face like a wolf. Um, yeah, I'm sticking with my first guess,” Xander responded in exasperation.

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him, but she knew that he was still a bit shaken from the experience.

“Seems wise,” Willow’s boyfriend Oz responded.

“Oh, oh, and then there was that little thing where it tried to bite us,” Xander continued his ranting.

“It was so awful,” Cordelia whined resting her head on Xander’s shoulder.

“I know,” he said, putting an arm around her.

Willow made a face.

“Daddy just had this car detailed,” Cordelia moaned stepping away from Xander.

Buffy valiantly resisted the impulse to roll her eyes.

“So what's the word?” She asked her Watcher as he walked toward her with a newspaper.

“Well, it seems there were a, a number of other attacks by a wild dog around town. Several animal carcasses were found mutilated,” Giles said, handing the paper to Buffy

“You mean, like bunnies and stuff? No, don't tell me.” Willow said, looking uncertainly at Oz.

“Oh, don't worry. I mean, they might not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves,” he assured her.

Buffy stared hard at the newspaper in front of her, trying to tune them out. All this sweet couple-y stuff was grating on her nerves. She couldn’t help but wonder what Spike would say if he was here. Probably something refreshingly rude.

Giles tugged the paper out of her hands, a bit disturbed by the cruel smirk on his slayer’s face.

“Yes, uh, um, fortunately, no people were injured.”

“That falls into the 'that's a switch' column,” She said, pushing Spike out of her mind and making an effort to focus on the matter at hand.

“Well, for now. But my guess is that this werewolf will be back at next month's full moon,” Giles continued gravely.

“What about tonight's full moon?” Willow asked.

“Pardon?” Giles said, confused.

“Well, last night was the night before the full moon, traditionally known as... 'the night before the full moon.'” Willow explained.

“Meaning the accepted legend that werewolves only prowl during a full moon might be erroneous.”

“Or it could be a crock,” Cordelia chimed in.

“Unless the werewolf was using last year's almanac,” Xander quipped.

“Looks like Giles has some schooling to do,” Buffy said, shooting her watcher a teasing grin.

“Yes, I must admit I, I am intrigued. Werewolves, it's... it's one of the classics. I, I'm sure my books and I are in for a fascinating afternoon,” He said distractedly as he walked away.

The students watched him leave with varying degrees of amusement on their faces.

“He needs to get a pet.”

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“Oz was the werewolf! I couldn’t believe it,” Buffy was telling Spike all about her latest adventure as she nibbled on a slice of pizza.

They were in Spike’s kitchen. Buffy had invited herself over when her mom called and said she’d been bumped from her flight and would not get home until the following afternoon.

Spike gave Buffy a superior grin.

“Hey! You knew didn’t you? You knew all along!” She accused shaking her half-eaten pizza slice at him.

He shrugged and took a bite since it was right in front of his face.

“That’s why I didn’t want to interfere. Though nothing would have kept me home if I’d known about that hunter…” he said with a growl.

Buffy chewed thoughtfully on another bite.

“It’s okay, Spike. I am the Slayer after all. I’m not saying that I don’t appreciate your help, but if you feel uncomfortable getting involved in somethings… that’s okay. I can handle it. And sometimes it’s nice to know that I can.”

Spike smiled at her.

“That’s my girl.”

Buffy finished her slice and reached for another, but Spike pulled it away.

“You need room for dessert, Luv,” he said when she pouted at him.

Her eyes lit up.

“What’s for dessert?” She asked.

Spike stood up and started walking to his bedroom, gesturing for her to follow.

“Um, Spike?” She asked, uncertainly.

“Come on, Slayer! I have a surprise for you…”

Buffy followed him, unsure of what to expect.

He was waiting for her in front of the shut bathroom door.

“Are you ready?” He asked, teasingly.

“YES!”

Spike opened the door to reveal that he had finished the bathroom. The tub was all set up with bubbles and strong jets that Buffy couldn’t wait to try on her sore muscles. A tray on the side of the tub held a bottle of wine in an ice bucket two glasses and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries.

Her pleasure at the thought of enjoying the bath momentarily vanished as she realized that Spike was expecting her to bathe with him.

She turned to face him with a nervous look on her face, but Spike laughed at her and handed over a bag that contained her swimsuit.

“Buffy, when are you going to learn to trust me?” He asked, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Soon,” she said with a grin and slipped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

He gave her five minutes before he went in wearing swim trunks.

Buffy had already made herself comfortable in the tube and was chewing on a strawberry.

“What took you so long?” She asked, unaware of the chocolate that had been smeared on her lips.

She let out a squeal when Spike jumped in the tub, sending water rushing over the side.

“Spike! You made a mess!”

He shrugged and pulled her close.

“I’ll clean it up later.”

Then he was sucking the chocolate off of her lips. They had a great time sipping wine and feeding each other chocolate strawberries.

Spike had been hoping to get her relaxed and aroused enough to fool around a bit, but the wine and the long day had taken its toll, and soon she was dozing on his shoulder.

He sighed, helped her dry off and returned to the bathroom to clean up while she changed for bed.

Later, he slipped in bed beside her and pulled her into his arms. Spike stayed awake for a long time, watching her sleep. As much as he was ready for a more physical relationship with her, he could honestly say that if all he ever got to do was hold her while she slept he could die a happy man.

End Chapter 7

A/N: I know it’s been a while. I’m doing my best to update all of my stories right now though, so please bear with me. It may be quite some time between updates, but please be assured that I have not abandoned this story.

-PJ