Chapter 8

“Come on, what’s the big deal?”

Faith glared at her irritating sister. “The big deal is that I’m the Slayer, you’re not. You shouldn’t have to put up with this stuff.”

“Whether I’m the Slayer or not, I still think this is a good idea. Willow and Tara are helping me keep control of my powers, but I don’t have much to go on. It would help if you could train me, so I can get myself out of a bad situation if I ever come across one, without worrying about you or Spike having to save me all the time. I don’t play the damsel in distress well, and plus, this would give us a chance to do that bonding thing I’ve heard so much about.”

The brunette rolled her eyes. “You’re not gonna quit until I agree, are you?”

Buffy shook her head, giving her sister a hopeful expression, causing Faith to admit defeat.

“Fine, you can come on patrol tomorrow, but let me and Spike handle the really big demons. If this is going to work, you’ll have to do everything I say.”

Buffy really didn’t love that idea, never one for doing what she was told, but figured she didn’t have much of a choice. “It’s a deal.”


* * * * *


“Are you sure this is a good idea? I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I already got the lecture from Faith. I don’t need it from you, too. I need to learn how to defend myself, especially in this town. Think of it this way, once I get good, we can spar with each other,” she finished with a grin.

Spike pulled her closer to his side, nuzzling her neck. “It’s hard to argue with that. Two weeks until your birthday, you didn’t tell me what you wanted.”

She shrugged. “Surprise me.” Buffy knew what she really wanted, to be with Spike completely on her birthday. She was going to be seventeen, not a little kid anymore, and felt that she was ready to take the next step in their relationship. She was just afraid of telling him. Buffy didn’t think she could handle Spike telling her that she was still too young and not ready for that, when she knew more than anything that she was. She would just have to convince him.

“You got quiet on me. What are you thinking about?”

Buffy wasn’t ready to tell him yet, so she thought of something else to say. “You never really told me why you came here. I’ve always wondered, but wasn’t sure if I should ask. Did it have something to do with Drusilla? You’ve hardly mentioned her at all, and what I do know I got from Faith. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, I wouldn’t wanna bring up any bad memories.”

Spike shook his head. Drusilla was always a sensitive subject, but he didn’t want to keep anything from her. “Nothing much to tell, we were together for over a century. She made me, I loved her, but it was never enough. She just kept me around for her own amusement, wanted someone to take care of her. I was never enough demon for her, and proved that when I saved this young child one night. She was disgusted with me after that, yelling some such rot about how I didn’t belong with her. I belonged with the sunshine, whatever that meant. I just figured she wanted me to take a stroll during the day or something, to finally be rid of me. Anyway, to make a long story short, I woke up one day and she was gone. That was about two years ago, I had to manage being on my own, but I was devastated. I wanted her back, so figured that if I could show her I was still a demon, she’d accept me again, and that’s when I heard a Slayer lived here. I took off as soon as I could, it pains me to admit this now, but my first intention was to come here and kill Faith, to be the monster Dru loved. I decided to look for her at the Bronze, just get a feel of what I would be up against, and then I saw you. I’ve never believed in love at first sight before, but you completely took me by surprise. My plan changed in that moment, Dru wasn’t even an issue anymore. I found a new purpose instead, and I never once regretted it.”

Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes, not even realizing that she was crying. Drusilla was an even bigger psycho than she thought to leave him, and if the crazy vampire ever showed her face in town, Buffy would make her very aware of that. Spike was hers now, and she was never letting him go.


* * * * *


“This is so not fair. Why am I the last one to know everything?”

Buffy cringed at her sister’s whine, really hoping she never sounded like that. “You’re the youngest, Dawn. If we thought you needed to know, we would have told you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Does Mom know that you’re dating Spike? I doubt she would be okay with it. You’re only a couple of years older than me, but not even since I was originally a ball of energy that’s been around for thousands of years.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Are you seriously going to keep playing that card? You’re human now, it doesn’t really matter how you started out. And since Faith took out that Glory bitch who wanted to use you to open some doorway to hell, you’re not even really a key anymore, so that argument gets you nowhere. You’re just mad because you have some stupid crush on Spike.”

“I so do not! I’m telling Mom about this.”

“You do that,” Buffy said, heading upstairs and away from one very annoying teenager.


* * * * *


The conversation with her mother could have gone worse; Dawn didn’t waste any time in telling her exactly what Buffy had been up to the last few weeks. Joyce Summers just gave her a few disappointing looks, but luckily Faith was there to back her up. In the words of her mother, she may have liked Spike, but not as a potential boyfriend for her middle child. Buffy didn’t care, her mother could disapprove all she wanted, nothing was going to stop her from seeing Spike. He was her anchor, and the only one to really keep her sane these days.

She broke out of her reverie, smiling at the vampire on her bed and moving over to join him.

Spike’s arm immediately settled around her. “How did it go?”

“Oh, you know, the typical third degree. He’s too old for you. I want you so much to have a normal life, get married, have children, blah blah blah. Since she’s probably shit out of luck with Faith, I guess Dawn is her last hope for grandkids now.”

Spike frowned. “Is that something you want?”

Buffy shrugged. “I never really thought about it before. I mean, I don’t have the life of a Slayer, so it could have been possible somewhere down the road, but I’m fine with the not having of kids.”

“I guess I never thought about what you would be giving up. I was a selfish git, only thinking about my needs. You deserve better.”

She sat up, shaking her head. “No, you’re not doing that. You’re not going to pull an Angel on me, buddy. If you decide to leave ‘for my own good,’ I will throttle you. I don’t care about any of that stuff, being with you means so much more to me. I never understood how Faith could just let the man she claimed to love walk away like that, but that’s not happening with me. If you leave, I’m going with you. You got that?”

He smiled, falling even more in love with her. “Dually noted, I guess you’re stuck with me.”

Buffy rested her head on his chest, not even bothered by his lack of a heartbeat.

Spike wrapped his arms back around her. “I wish it could beat for you,” he said, sensing what she was thinking.

“I don’t need it to beat. I just need it to be mine.”

He was not going to cry. Nope, that wasn’t going to happen. “Always.”

Buffy pressed kisses to his chest, right over where his heart should be, letting him know that she loved him no matter what.

Spike felt choked up just from that one gesture. Okay, maybe it would happen a little.