Chapter 2

AN* Sorry it has taken so long to post the second chapter – real life got in the way.

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Buffy stood still and stared at her sister. “Spike?” she asked. “You’re going to meet Spike?”

Dawn, tears in her eyes, just nodded her head. Angry at herself for betraying Spike to her family, she knew she had been left with no choice.

Joyce, anxious to stop her eldest from losing her temper, spoke quietly to Dawn. “Why did you think you had to keep his return a secret, Dawn? You know he’s welcome here anytime he wants.”

“I know, mom.” Dawn replied. “It’s just…..I wanted to see him on my own first.”

“Why?” her mother asked simply.

“He’s been gone so long mom, and he was always my friend.” Dawn moved her eyes to the floor, finding the floorboards beneath her feet suddenly fascinating. Her voice was quiet as she continued. “He came back because I told him a little about the prophecy. I asked him to help me fight it and he agreed. He’s come half way round the world to help me and I don’t want to let him down.”

Joyce stared at the top of her daughter’s bent head. “Why would you think you were letting him down by not telling us he was back? I’m just a little confused, honey. Doesn’t he want to see us too?”

Dawn knew that what she had to say was going to hurt both her mother and her sister, but if they were going to let her see Spike alone she had to tell them. “He wants to see you mom, but he said he didn’t want to see Buffy unless he had to.”

Before Joyce could say anything, Buffy moved her hand under Dawn’s chin to lift her head. Manoeuvring her sister’s head until she could look into her eyes, she asked calmly. “Why does he not want to see me, Dawn?”

Silent tears were rolling down Dawn’s face now. She could see the hurt and disappointment in her sister’s eyes, and wondered why Buffy was not as angry as she had expected her to be.

“He said that you and he didn’t part on good terms, Buffy. He thought you might not want to see him too.”

Buffy’s mouth opened in astonishment. She could not believe that Spike would not want to see her, considering their last encounter. Surely he would at least want to talk to her about it. After all, Spike was not known for his silence at the best of times. All sort of emotions whirled inside her. There were questions she wanted to ask him, and answers she desperately needed to hear. Fighting an angry response, she spoke quietly to Dawn.

“If you called him, do you think he would come here to see you?” she asked.

Dawn looked quickly between her sister and her mother. Encouraged by the expression on both their faces, she knew that they had missed him as much as she. “I don’t know, Buffy. I could always call him on his cell and ask him. I don’t think he’ll answer Clem’s phone in case someone finds out he’s back.”

Joyce thought over Dawn’s statement for a few seconds before making the suggestion that she, rather than Dawn, should call Spike and ask him over. She thought that if she made the call, then he would know that he was welcome and might visit. Nodding her head in agreement, Dawn left the room to look for her cell.

While she was gone, Joyce spoke firmly to Buffy. “If he agrees to come here Buffy, you will make him welcome. Do you understand me? I will not have him feel uncomfortable in this house.”

Buffy nodded her acceptance while she waited for her sister’s return. “Good,” her mother continued. “If you argue with him, hit him, or do anything that makes him leave again Buffy, then you and I will have words.”

Looking at her mother, Buffy again nodded. She was lost for words. Finally, after three years absence, she was going to see him again. Tumbled thoughts ran through her mind. Would he look the same? Would he smell the same? Would he still fight at her side like he used to?

Did he still love her?

Banishing the last thought from her mind, she prepared herself for her mother’s call. She had told no one of their few hours of passion, or how it had affected her. Her biggest regret had been that she had not run after him when he walked away. She had lived with heartbreak for so long in her young life, she had started to believe she deserved it.

If she was honest with herself, she had not believed that he had gone after their time in the graveyard. She had convinced herself that he only needed some space, and would turn up a few days later at The Magic Box for a Scooby meeting, but he never did. As the days turned into weeks, she knew she had lost him, and it felt like her heart had broken into a thousand pieces.

As the weeks turned months, and the months turned into years, she convinced herself that he had been dusted and tried to carry on with her life. She had went out with a few guys over the years, but none of them had understood her the way Spike had. None of her boyfriends could make her feel glory of letting her passion run free during sex. Too afraid to break them, she had always held her passion back.

Only Spike had let that part of her free, and now he was back in their lives.

Watching her mother place the call to Spike, she could feel her heart start to race. Convinced he would visit now that her mother had asked him, she made quickly for the stairs. She wanted to look nice for him when he arrived, and she ran into her bedroom to find something to wear he might like. As she quickly scanned her closet, her eyes fell on his red shirt. Every night she wore it to bed, letting the memories of their short time together race through her mind. She realised her hands were shaking as she pulled out various tops and jeans.

Sexy, she thought to herself. I have to make myself look sexy. Deciding on a pair of hipster jeans and a short filmy top, she hurriedly changed. Looking at her reflection in the dresser mirror, she picked up her brush and ran it quickly through her hair. Her hair was longer than when they had last met, and she secretly hoped Spike would like it. Makeup was quickly reapplied, and she took extra care with her lipstick. She wanted him to notice her lips, glossed and ready to be kissed. I have to make them kissable, she thought as she applied the red gloss to her lips.

Looking in the mirror for a few seconds, she smiled at her reflection and nodded her head. He would like her in this outfit, she was sure. He had to like her again, she had missed him too much and for too long. He just had to care. Giving her reflection one last tentative smile, she turned and made her way back to the living room, excitement filling her breast.

Noticing her mother and sister sitting side by side on the sofa, she asked brightly. “Well, is he coming?”

Joyce turned her head and looked thoughtfully at her daughter. Buffy had obviously made an effort with her appearance for Spike’s visit, which made what she had to say even harder than she thought.

“Spike’s agreed to come Buffy, but only if you’re not in the house.”

Buffy stared at her mother in disbelief.

“What?” she asked, confused by her mother’s words.

Joyce had always suspected that Buffy had felt something for the vampire other than hate, and seeing the trouble she had gone to in order to look nice for him, hurt her. Spike had been adamant that he did not want to see Buffy, and Joyce had promised him that she would not be in the house when he arrived. It was the only thing that would convince him to come.

Taking a deep breath before she continued, Joyce took the bull by the horns and spelled out Spike’s terms. “He says he’s not willing to talk to you just now, honey.”

Flouncing further into the room, Buffy dropped heavily into one of the armchairs. “Did he say why?” she whispered, all her plans falling apart at the seams.

“Not really, honey.” At the look of hurt on her daughter’s face, she almost relented and let her stay, but both she and Dawn needed to talk to Spike. “He just said he wasn’t in the mood for fighting with you. He was here to help Dawn and he would talk to you if he had to.”

Joyce watched her daughter’s face carefully. As Buffy’s eyes misted with tears, she could feel her own heart break at her daughter’s distress. If she had been in any doubt that Buffy held strong feelings for Spike, they had been banished by the broken look on her face. Quickly deciding that she would need to do something, she stood up from the sofa and walked over to Buffy’s slumped form. Crouching down in front of her, she took Buffy’s tightly clasped hands between her own.

“Buffy,” she quietly said. “Let him talk to Dawn and me first. He’s been gone so long and surely you can understand why he thinks you might hurt him again.”

As Buffy turned a grief stricken look at her mother, Joyce’s heart melted a little more. “Let me convince him that you won’t hurt him anymore, honey. Do you think you can let me do that?”

Words failed her. Spike did not want to see her, and she could not understand why. After all this time of pining for him, it was obvious that he didn’t care anymore.

“I’ll go visit Willow and Tara for a while,” she told them, her emotions making her voice sound strained. “I’ll take my cell and you can call me when he’s gone.”

Rising from her crouched position on the floor, Joyce pulled Buffy into her arms for a hug.

“That’s a great idea, Buffy. We’ll both talk to Spike and ask him if you can visit him tomorrow.”

Holding her mother tightly, Buffy nodded against her mother’s shoulder. “Tell him I won’t hit him mom please” she begged. “Tell him I just want to talk to him about the prophecy and how he could help.” Looking up at her mother with pleading eyes, she continued. “It’s been so long, I just want to see him.”

Joyce held her tighter in her embrace. “I know, honey. I promise I’ll make him understand.”

“Okay mom. I’ll go visit Wills.” As she moved from her mother’s embrace towards the door, she looked back over her shoulder. “You will tell him I need to see him, mom”

Nodding and smiling at her daughter, Joyce agreed.

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Standing under his old stalking tree in the yard, Spike waited patiently for Buffy to leave. He knew that Joyce would convince her to go, and he was glad he had made that condition. Moodily smoking a cigarette, he stared up at the quarter moon wondering what this prophecy was all about. Even Clem had not had all the details, but at least he had confirmed that a prophecy did exist and that it concerned Dawn.

He had not asked himself why he had returned so quickly to Sunnydale after one frantic phone call from Dawn. He did not want to examine his reasons for such a hasty return to the town he hated so much. He knew he would not like the answers.

When he heard the sound of the Summer’s door opening, he ducked behind the tree and stomped out his cigarette. He did not want the glow to alert her to his presence. He hoped that her spidy sense was on low power tonight and would not alert her to a vampire close by.

As he stood in the shadows, a scent never to be forgotten wafted across the porch. The mixture of vanilla and slayer musk brought memories back that he had tried so hard to suppress. When her powerful scent reached him, he felt his cock rise to attention within the confines of his jeans, and he was angry with himself.

Three years he had kept away from Sunnydale trying to forget her; and their last encounter. He thought he had succeeded in his quest for a life without her after all that time. Whole weeks would go by before the image of her face as she came apart in his arms would intrude into his mind. He had banished the memories by fighting demons all over the planet and losing himself in the bottom of a bottle, but he knew now it had been a wasted effort.

All he had to do was smell her unique scent, and he was Love’s Bitch once again.

Angry at his folly in coming here, he stood stock still and waited for her to leave. Not really able to comprehend the depth of feeling inside him, he prayed to a God he did not believe in to make her go. Once he had talked with Joyce and Dawn, he would return to the crypt and make plans. If he could get through this without meeting her, he just might be able to leave with his sanity.

If he spoke to her again, he knew he would stay forever.

Listening carefully for the sound of her footsteps as she made her way down the garden path to the sidewalk, he took a deep breath. Mistake, he thought as he inhaled her scent deep into his lungs, big mistake. He had thought to calm his emotions, but the strong scent of Buffy felt like holy water on his skin. Painful, burning, unwelcome, and such sweet torture to his heart.

As the sound of her footsteps faded into the night, Spike found the courage to knock on the Summer’s door. Within seconds his arms were full of a much grown Dawn and a tearful Joyce. It was a welcome like he had never had since he had been turned, and he could feel his heart swell with emotion.

This was worth the heartache of being so close to Buffy. This was worth travelling thousand of miles across the world.

This was where he belonged.