SECTION 3 - DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT

When I passed you in the doorway
You took me with a glance
I should have taken the last bus home
But I asked you for a dance.

.But I'm dancing in the moonlight
It's caught me in its spotlight
It's alright, alright
Dancing in the moonlight
On the long hot summer night

(Thin Lizzy [written by Phil Lynott], Album Bad Reputation)



Chapter 3.05
Wednesday, May 8th, 2002

Spike took some of her shampoo and massaged it into her hair. When he had finished he spun them round so that instead of hitting his back the water from the shower was hitting hers instead. She took a step backward, still holding him round the waist and let the water rinse the suds from her hair, his fingers working through the strands directing the water flow until the last of the lather was rinsed away. He found himself in the perfect position to claim a kiss. Buffy's head was tilted back and her eyes closed and one of his hands was wrapped in her hair while her arms still circled his waist. His lips moved on hers with a light touch, nibbling at her lower lip to prevent the pout he expected, when she realised he had finished doing her hair.

Pulling back, he turned off the water. "I guess it's time we went back to pretending that we're responsible adults and head back to Sunnyhell. See Bit. Do some sort of patrol." Spike sounded as if he wished they had other plans.

"I thought we had a date with some silky underwear," Buffy suggested.

"Much as the idea appeals, and believe me it does;" He treated her to a trademark leer to prove his point. "I think a rain check's prob'ly in order. Don't want the Niblet thinking that we're too interested in screwin' each other's brains out to spend time with her, or attend to your slayer duties. She seems happy we're together. Don't want her to change her mind," the platinum blond responded.

"You know, if you had to choose, life and death, between me and her I sometimes wonder which one you'd choose," teased the slayer as she led him back into the main room.

The couple started, albeit reluctantly, to get dressed as the vampire responded with a rueful smirk. "Already answered that question, pet, long time ago. Right before our first proper kiss. Well, first one that wasn't 'cause of a spell, that is."

Buffy cast her mind back, trying to think what he could mean, then she remembered his words. ".the other, not so pleasant Buffy .anything happened to Dawn, it'd destroy her. I couldn't live her bein' in that much pain." Yeah, he'd made it plain where he stood. He would die to protect them, but implicit in his words was his acknowledgement of Buffy's willingness to die to save her sister. She had her answer, not necessarily the one she would have expected but then when had her vampire ever been predictable. Her vampire? Her vampire.

"I guess you did," she replied softly as she moved behind him, passing her arms around his waist once more, pressing into his T-shirt clad back so he wouldn't see her face. "There's no limit to what you would do for me, is there?"

"I thought that was obvious by what I agreed to, to get you to marry me." Spike adopted a teasing tone, trying to lighten the serious mood.

"No, that showed me what you were prepared to do to be with me. Knowing that you would let me go because it's what I'd want that means even more."

Spike shrugged. "Not really. No point keepin' you here for you to end up hating me and yourself for lettin' Niblet get hurt. Still just the same old selfish Spike. Couldn't go back to havin' you hate me not after this."

"Oh well. If you put it like that, then." her teasing tone came back, as did Spike's.

"Couldn't have you thinkin' I was all noble and self-sacrificin', could I?"

"That'd never do. Can't forget you're the Big Bad. Cutie." Her last word prompted the vamp to twist in her arms and sweep her feet from under her, pinning her to the tile floor.

"What did I say to you about the "C" word?" Spike proceeded to tickle her mercilessly. "Who's the only cutie in this room? .Tell me, love."

Buffy gasped for air and squirmed beneath him. "You .are."

The tickling onslaught stopped and Buffy realised that Spike's lips were only a fraction of an inch away from her own. "Wrong answer, slayer." He stood up and turning away he finished getting dressed.

Buffy continued to pant on the floor for another minute or two. "That's it. You're just going to give up?" she managed after some time.

"Hell no, just waiting till I can consult with an expert tactician as to my best form of attack, and then I'll mount an offensive in my own time. For just now, it's time to go home." He reached down, offering a hand to help her up and was relieved when she took it.

"Translation?" Buffy gave him a sceptical look.

"I'm going to find out from your little sister how best to make you suffer, since tickling doesn't appear to do it. I'm sure she'll think of something," Spike smirked and gave her a slap on her behind. "Now, put some clothes on, woman, before all my good intentions go to waste."

The slayer jumped, startled by the blow rather than hurt. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the vampire sit down on the bed to put on his socks and boots.

"Spike, you're a pig," she responded as much out of habit as out of conviction.

Spike was quiet on the drive back. Couldn't the bloody woman just give way on anything? Was it her aim in life to strip him of every last vestige of pride that he possessed? Hell, yeah, he was love's bitch again. Always had been, probably always would be. Still, "cutie", that's a girl's nickname and damned if anyone had ever seen him in a skirt, even if Dru had been quite intrigued by the idea in the eighties. And okay, he was making it into a bigger deal than it deserved to be, but it was the final soddin' straw. Damned if he'd got his own way in anything since the pair of them had got engaged and look at the concessions he'd had to make to get her to agree to that.

Okay, she hadn't gone back to that dump she'd worked in, but that was because she'd totally ignored what he said about wanting to stay in control until the Watcher could tell them whether it was safe to claim each other. She hadn't liked the idea that he could rein himself in when they were together. It hurt her pride. So she deliberately set out to make him lose control. Even when he'd already told her the reason he was holding off. Stubborn bitch.

And when she did find out what that password meant he probably wasn't going to hear the end of that either. Further embarrassment to come at the slayer's hands. They'd been using that same bloody password for decades. He'd always thought it was a nice ironic touch. Back in the day anyone who found out would most likely have been creeped out by it. They certainly wouldn't have found it amusing like the slayer would. That was why he'd refused to tell her. He wasn't good at being laughed at. He'd had a lifetime of it before Dru saved him. After that he'd sworn he would never put up with it again, and he hadn't, not till that soddin' wheelchair that she put him in. If she insisted on finding out at least he didn't have to be in the vicinity at the time.

God, why couldn't he, just for once, fall for someone who would give him a bit of slack? Someone who would treat him with some respect.

Buffy stole sideways glances at the man behind the wheel of the car. If he wasn't smoking, his jaw had that tick that said he was barely in control. She wished she could tell what he was thinking right now. Whatever it was, it wasn't of the good. He'd been fine in the motel, well maybe a little off, the last five minutes, but definitely more than welcoming up until then and he'd seemed okay when they left the room. Then when she'd come back to the car after checking out he'd gone into silent mode. And kept it up for half an hour so far, which had to be a Spike record. Guess Angel wasn't the only one she was going to have to prise information out of.

"Okay, what's the what?" she threw in as an opening gambit.

"Who says there's a what?"

"I do. If you were human you would have ground your teeth to talcum by now. What gives?"

"Not you, that's for sure." The Brit flicked a cold glance over her before returning his attention to the tiny bare patch on the windscreen.

"What? What are you talking about?" Buffy's temper immediately rose to take on his.

"You. I had this stupid idea that if you loved someone, then what they wanted was supposed to count for something."

"Okay, I'm sure that makes some sort of sense to you but I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"Name me one disagreement or argument or fight that we've had where you've actually backed down and let me have my way. You do realise that when people talk about give and take in a relationship it's not meant to be all give on one side and all take on the other."

"I didn't go back to DMP. You didn't want me to and I didn't go back."

"There's a good example. You didn't go back because I bit you so you couldn't go back that night and by the next day you were enjoying playing hookey too much to want to go back. It had nothing to do with what I wanted. And to go back to me biting you, I bloody told you I wanted to keep things as they were until Rupert finished his research. That I had to stay in control until we knew it was okay, so you decided it was a challenge. You just had to push to see if you could get me to lose control and look where that's got us."

"Yeah, well, I don't see a problem with where that got us," Buffy responded.

"So you don't think you're eventually going to come to resent the control it gives me."

"No more than I resented the fact you weren't being completely open."

"My point exactly, slayer. It doesn't matter what we're talking about or what any reasoning behind it is, as soon as you don't agree you just do whatever it takes to get your own way. Compromise just isn't in your vocabulary. Well maybe you should think about what you might lose in the long run if you win every argument," the vampire ground out, his eyes never leaving the road.

"Are you threatening to leave me? Didn't take you long to threaten to go back on all your big promises, did it?"

"For goodness sake, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm here to stay? What I'm saying is if you can't get over always having to win you'll destroy the last few scraps of pride this buggerin' chip lets me keep. I told you once I was a willing slave. I can't deny you anything and if you keep going, that's what you'll have a slave, not a husband."

Buffy was stunned into silence. He was right. She knew he wouldn't leave. She knew that he would do anything to make her happy and if she didn't curb her slayer instincts she would walk all over him for it. He could read her so easily. He knew when he should back off. She didn't, not yet. She still didn't even know what she'd done to bring all this up.

When she finally found words to speak all the anger was gone from her voice. "You're right, as you almost always are. I just don't know what I'm supposed to have done. I mean you were right I did set out to make you lose control, but I don't think that's it. I don't . What did I do?"

"I might be into pain, but emasculation, verbal or otherwise isn't my scene. Not that I do great on ridicule of any sort, in fact." came the vampire's cool reply.

Buffy mentally made her way through the last five minutes in the motel room. "You're in a foul mood because I called you Cutie? That's what's got you so bent out of shape? In case you hadn't noticed it's supposed to be a term of endearment. It doesn't bother you when you use it on me. In fact it was you using it that started it. Turn about's fair play."

The vampire sorted in disgust. "Not when you're throwin' around words like that. Cute, I'll just about put up with since with your age group it sort of means sexy, but I still don't like it. Cutie though. To me a cutie is a little big-eyed bint, which to me seems appropriate for you, but it's hardly going to make me feel all manly, is it? And I'm not this pissed off because you called me cutie, I'm this pissed because even when I gave you the chance to take it back you were too bloody pig-headed to do it. A stupid little thing not worth fighting over but you still had to win. That's what pisses me off."

"Well, that's not what I mean by it .or Will, I mean Willow. We both talk about guys being cuties, or we used to, but I'm sorry that I upset you. I'll try to avoid calling you anything girly in future. And I'll try not to push everything to the limit."

"Yeah, just remember you said that when you get round to doing your research."

"If you stop the car I'll find you a nice big weapon from the trunk. Something very butch," Buffy offered.

"What?"

"Well, you did tell me once that weapons made you feel 'all manly'. I thought it might help repair all the psychological damage I've done."

"I can think of other ways. And that was four and half years ago. You telling me you've memorised every word I've ever said to you."

"Actually, what I remember more were the .actions that went with it." Her cheeks flushed with colour as she spoke and her eyes burned bright.

"Are you saying you had the hots for the Big Bad way back then, pet?"

"Let's think, I was more than interested first time I saw you, right up to the point where you said you were going to kill me. That sort of put a damper on things. And when we were fighting in the school I was a bit busy being scared and generally trying to stay alive. The whole machismo thing came across as skanky rather than anything else. That doesn't mean to say that after our first engagement, it didn't feature in an occasional late night fantasy."

"Now, see, that's making me feel more manly already. So you dreamt about me even when you were seeing the hall monitor."

"Will, I thought about you while I was screwing the hall monitor, okay?" Buffy blushed even redder. "I dreamt about you and I got myself off thinking about you."

"Buffy, you naughty girl. What exactly was it that made you want to imagine you were with someone who'd never done more than kiss you? I don't even think you'd seen me with my shirt off."

"I'd felt you though. In the crypt, just before Willow reversed the spell, I could feel everything. I knew you .measured up."

"And soldier boy didn't?"

"Let's say, maybe he was about the same height as Angel but he wasn't as big, and you know how you compare with Angel. I mean he was probably average size for his height, he wasn't tiny or anything. He just wasn't .you. And then there's the whole bad boy thing." Buffy's tone shifted from shyly disconcerted to mildly sarcastic as she continued. "Now have I embarrassed myself and restored your ego enough or do you need me to suck you off now?"

Spike laughed. "I think that can wait till we're stationary, love. Maybe after patrol we can take the bike over to the flat and christen the new sheets. If they smell of you I might be able to sleep."

Buffy leant over and kissed his cheek. "I've never known anyone who could be so sweet and so crass all in the same mouthful. God knows why I love you, Will, but I do."

"And I love you too, pet."

Buffy scooched over as far in his direction as she could, trying to find a comfortable position to snuggle up to him while he was driving, eventually squirming back into the same position she'd been in the night before. He wasn't talking any more but that was okay. The tension was gone from his jaw and the hand she wasn't holding was drumming on the steering wheel to some song in his head. She'd probably find out what it was when he got round to singing along under his breath. All was well with the world again .for now.

"Buffy?"

The woman in question opened her eyes looking up at the face of the man she was propped against. By her reckoning they probably had another half-hour's drive before they reached Sunnydale. "Mm-hmm?"

"D'you think Platelet would mind if I didn't come in when I drop you off?"

"She'd be disappointed." Buffy gave him a questioning look. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking if I got the bed made and the curtains put up I could go back to the flat tonight instead of staying at the crypt."

"You could stay at ours again?"

"It's only the third night since I spent the night at your place and you had good reason to limit it to two nights a week. Can't tell who might be watchin'. They probably wouldn't be as bad now we're engaged but there's no point takin' unnecessary chances. 'Sides we probably wouldn't be too popular if we kept the rest of the house up on a week night."

"Well, come in, have dinner with us and then the three of us can go over there together after and sort it out. It's easier doing double beds with two people anyway, and Dawn'll want to see your new place. You can drop her off at home before we patrol.

And as to keeping everybody else awake, I've been thinking maybe soundproofing the basement and putting in another bathroom might be the best option whether the other Will stays or not .if we can definitely afford it?"

"We can afford it. And I can't imagine Bit being upset if she ended up with the big room if the witches didn't stay. Do you want to ask your mate or just pick someone from the Yellow Pages? I'm not sure how well he'd take bein' asked to build us a bedroom," Spike pointed out.

"I'll see what the other Will thinks," Buffy mused. "If we don't ask him he might get offended, but then like you say. You never know if the pair of you worked on it together you might even end up tolerating one another."

"Or stranglin' each other, one of the two. Specially since I've never used a saw in my life but that still doesn't make me any keener on following instructions from Harris."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Men."

"And now for something completely different." Spike pulled out his phone and passed it to Buffy. "Better ring the Wiccans and see if they want anything from the Chinese. Then if you ring the take away place it should be ready to pick up when we get back to town. Bit wanted lemon chicken, fried rice and banana fritters. I'll have the chilli beef."

"No rice?"

"No point, can't taste it."

Buffy picked up the phone and made arrangements for dinner, deciding it wasn't worth explaining to the vamp that nobody could really taste rice.