TITLE: DIGGING OUT OF THE TUNNEL (Part of The Tunnel series)
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Buffy peered into the refrigerator hopefully, then frowned. No
decent leftovers to be had that Dawn hadn't marked as after school
snackage. The few remaining possibilities had spoons stuck in them
already, a sure sign that her sister had already been at those, as
well.
Bummer. Still too early for breakfast, she was hoping to find a
quick snack to tide her over and now would have to actually `make'
one.
She yawned widely and nearly lost her balance, hanging onto the
refrigerator door for support. Slamming the door shut, she padded
barefooted over to the utensil drawer and yanking it open, she
pulled out a butter knife and closed the drawer more gently, this
time remembering that it was only six a.m. and everyone in the house
was still asleep.
She started to pull the inevitable jar of peanut butter from the
cupboard shelf and paused to yawn again. Stretching her arms over
her head and trying to get the most out of the stretch, she lost her
grip on the butter knife and it clattered to the floor.
Maybe this pre breakfast snack was just not meant to be. Annoyed
at her lack of dexterity she grabbed the knife back up, laid it on
the table, snatched a loaf of bread from the counter top, and sat
down with it plus the peanut butter.
As she put a generous dollop of the calorie laden spread onto a
slice of bread, she thought about the things that had transpired in
her bedroom only the night before.
Lost in thought, she took a large bite of her finished sandwich and
chewed it slowly for a moment, then stopped, frowning at her
sandwich. It needed something. Marshmallow spread!
She hopped up and dug through the cabinet but was unable to find
what she searched for, and decided to settle for the marshmallows
themselves. To her considerable disappointment, there were none.
"Damn!" She was sure that her mother had brought some home today,
as well as more cocoa, because she'd joked about Spike being so fond
of them.
Buff sat back down and ate the sandwich sans marshmallow and
returned to thinking about the previous night's events, which
included her ‘sort of’ date with Spike, the gang's reactions to
finding them alone in the dark in her room, and ‘her’ own thoughts
later about everyone's misguided good intentions, which she decided
right then and there would be nipped in the bud, before anything
sillier could occur.
She took another large bite of sandwich before she'd fully chewed
the last one just as a horrible thought came to her. If her well
meaning friends and relatives had opened that door about a minute
later than they had, they might have ‘really’ gotten an eye full.
She'd been about to remove her top, because Spike had told her that
if she did, he would spare Mr. Gordo's life , and not throw her
stuffed animal out the window as he'd threatened.
God. And she had been full of the devil, spurred on by the
challenge in his twinkling blue eyes, and had been just about to do
it, forgetting all about it until this moment,,,,,,,,,
"Gaaaak!" She choked on her mouthful, and her elbow knocked the
peanut butter jar off the table. It hit the floor and smashed into
several pieces (of course, her mother had to buy the stuff in glass,
not plastic) but she was too busy gagging and trying not to suck
something down the wrong pipe to worry about the jar.
He pulled the soft comforter up over his head and tried to ignore
it, but then, as it sounded like someone was trying to clear their
throat in a really gross and rude manner, he sat halfway up and
squinted at the luminous dial on the watch he'd laid on the floor
beside the cot.
Six fifteen a.m. ,,,,,,,,,,,A.M.????
He'd only gotten to sleep an hour before!!
"Bloody Hell!" He cursed softly, and was about to add more when he
remembered that none of the people above knew that he'd decided to
roost in the basement, and besides, even though it sounded like
someone was choking a bloody cat, they had a perfect right to make
all the noise they wanted. It was their house, after all.
He sighed. He was only a vampire with a tenuous foothold on Buffy's
affections and he should be satisfied with their progress of late,
and stop being a wanker.
The noise from above stopped, suddenly.
"Bout' bloody time!" He said, rolling his eyes at the floorboards
above.
Spike reached over and took the half empty, now cold cup of cocoa
topped with marshmallows and brought it up to his lips, sipping at
it as he eyed the thermos bottle that sat near by.
The thermos had contained some 'real food' which he'd nipped down
town and acquired earlier. He'd greedily gulped it down before
sleeping, to keep from starving, with no guilt what so ever. He'd
behaved himself, and bought it legitimately, although the source was
less so.
Of course, one of these days, Xander would probably realize that
Spike had picked his pocket during their ‘discussion’ in Buffy's
bedroom, and miss the money that he had ‘borrowed‘, but, the kid
was already mad at him anyway, Spike was broke, and not about to go
hungry when he didn't have to.
After draining the remaining cocoa, which never failed to comfort
him, he sighed in contentment, mouthed a little kiss at the
floorboards above his head, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
He never heard, as Buffy, after drinking a glass of water to wash
down the peanut butter, cleaned up the mess in the kitchen.
As she dumped the broken glass into the trash she cursed.
"Bloody Hell!" Then she stomped back up the stairs to get a couple
more hours of sleep, realized her choice of words, and smiled,
fondly.
"Have you seen my favorite comforter?"
Buffy rolled her eyes at Willow and sighed. "Stop stalling, and get
down there and get started. Even mystical energy has chores to do."
Willow threw her a look that said, ‘don't be such a big sister‘,
but Buffy just grinned at her and then remembered something.
Getting up off the couch she motioned Willow to stay put and went to
where Dawn stood, arms crossed, and pouting a little by the door.
"That reminds me. Did you use my hair gel? I left it in the
bathroom, but now it's gone."
"Why would I use that gunk? I don't like it, it makes my hair feel
all stiff, like Spikes'." And while she was on that
subject,,,,,,,,,
"Speaking of him, what do you think?" She grinned at her big
sister.
Buffy frowned. "About his hair? Well, now that you mention it I
don't like that gel on it, either." She got a dreamy, far away look
on her face.
Dawn knew the look. It was the Mode formerly known as Angel, which
was now the Spike Mode. Drooling was the next scheduled event.
"I don't mean his hair, I mean the rest."
Buffy snapped out of it, reluctantly. "Rest of what?"
Dawn's eyes rolled upwards. She spoke slowly, like she sometimes
did to Xander, and small children.
"The rest of the dirt! Dish it out! I want to know everything
about last night, and especially the part where you kissed him. And
don't tell me that you didn't, because no girl in her right mind
sits in a chair in a bedroom in the dark with a hottie like Spike
and doesn't kiss him!"
Buffy turned and went back into the living room, plopping down
beside Willow again.
"Ok Wil,,,,,,,, What were we saying?"
Willow had heard all that had been said around the corner. "Oh no
you don't. Dawny's right. Dish!"
At Buffy's pleading look, Willow gave her a mock frown. "Out with
it. Don't make me use a truth spell!" She didn't have one of
course, but Buffy didn't know that. It was like getting a warrant,
on one of those TV cop shows. She could get one, it would just take
longer. She smiled at the thought.
Out numbered, Buffy gave in. She knew that Dawn was going to hear
it all anyway, sooner or later, and as long as her mother didn't
hear her chatting about Spikes' unmentionables it would be fun to
tell about it.
She turned to summon Dawn, but the teen had already bounced to the
couch and sat down on the opposite side of her as Willow, grinning,
and twisting at the ends of her long brown hair.
This was going to be better than the time she'd overheard the action
as Riley put his hand down Buffy's pants for the first time. No one
ever suspected her, when she was sneaking around. She was nearly as
good a sneak as Spike.
He settled against the wall in the hallway and kept perfectly still.
"Ok, what do you want to hear about first?"
Willow just stared at her.
"Well DUH! How about everything that we didn’t all see while
spying, or should I say, ‘trying’ to spy on you two." Warming to
the idea, she continued.
"Start with any and all kissage that took place, then how he touched
you and where, OH and don't leave out the conversation! That's
very, very important! And then you need to rate it on a scale of
one to ten, so we can compare it to the others! Oh, DARN I wish I’d
brought my colored pens!"
Willow's eyes were bright, her cheeks were flushed, and she was
breathing hard, as if she'd been running.
Buffy's eyes slid over to Dawn, who was sitting there with her mouth
open, and back to her best friend. Tara was right. Definitely
quirky.
"You haven't been out much lately, have you Wil?"
The red headed witch tried to relax on the couch and appear as if
she didn't really care all that much about anything, but her inner
feelings made a liar out of her as a potted plant on the windowsill
abruptly wilted.
Dawn saw it out of the corner of her eye, and swallowed. That plant
had never thrived, anyway.
Buffy looked from one to the other and shook her head. Everyone
around her seemed so changeable of late. She of course, was like a
rock. A big crumbly sandy sort of rock.
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"First of all, I'll tell you this much, he can ’really’ kiss."
Willow sat up with great interest. "Rate it!"
Buffy just looked at her for a minute, and her friend relaxed her
posture a bit, but looked so disappointed that she sighed, and
tossed her a bone.
"It was at least a ten."
Dawn squealed and said, "I knew it! You can just tell, by that
cute lower lip he has!"
Both Buffy and Willow looked at Dawn, askance.
Dawn snorted. "Backward, much? We do have broom closets at ‘my’
school, too y'know.
Buffy, wondering if her mother had ever had that all important talk
with her sister, continued. "Um, ok. Anyway, it was a very good
kiss, and please don't ask me to compare it to anyone else's. It
was different, but in a very good way."
Willow coaxed her just a little. "And you can't compare it to, say,
um ,,,,,"
Buffy, aware that Dawn was hanging on every word debated going into
the territory that she knew Willow wanted her to.
As he heard her begin to speak he nearly bit through his lower lip
in impatience. His ’cute’ lower lip. He smiled, and strained his
ears to hear.
Buffy paused for a second, convinced that she'd heard some sort of
sound in the hallway, but Willow and Dawn were making so much noise
that she gave up trying to hear.
Willow was arguing that Buffy had loved Angel with a pure, first
love, and that it would never truly end, no matter what she might
feel for someone else.
Dawn was reminding Willow that Spike had saved Buffy from countless
vampires while on patrol, and where was Angel then? And something
about Spike’s cute little ass.
They were both presenting their cases like lawyers, and at the top
of their lungs, giving Buffy whiplash as she tried to keep up, until
she clapped her hands over her ears and yelled at them to be quiet.
Dawn stuck her tongue out at Willow.
Willow told her she was a child.
Dawn retaliated by flipping her the ‘bird‘.
Buffy, about to chide them for their behavior, held up one hand in a
demand for silence as, this time, she was sure she'd heard something
in the hallway.
It was just after she'd confessed to liking Spike's kiss over
Angel's, and it had distinctly sounded like someone saying ’Yes!’
in a loud whisper.
Putting her finger to her lips in a plea for silence, Buffy smiled
and motioned to the girls to follow her lead.
AUTHOR: Barb (Once Bitten Spike) Stewart
PART: 1 of 6
DISCLAIMER: These toys are Joss', not mine, even though he
sometimes
plays too rough, and gets Spike all skinned up. And he never puts
them away when he's done with them, so finders keepers!
DISTRIBUTION: You like, you got. I’d like to know
about it tho’.
RATING: Mostly PG 13 but goes at least 'R' cause it ends with a
bang.
SPOILERS: Bits from the old shows, but mostly Fifth Season
up to and including ‘I Was Made To Love You‘. Although
there will be references, possibly, to more current episodes.
There is one major thing that happened on the show and doesn’t
happen in my story universe.
PAIRING: B/S (With an appearance by the Poof)
FEEDBACK: I’m the original feedback vampire.
SUMMARY and NOTES: This is the 4th story in a series, and maybe
the last one. Spike threatened me with mayhem if I screw up his
life again.
DEDICATION: To everyone who sent such nice feedback for the
previous
stories, and especially one person who's "naked Spike picture" kept
me
laughing one night until the wee hours. You know who you are! And
by the by, those boxers WERE edible!!
ADDITIONAL! To everyone on One Good Day. I hope you are
having one!
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Spike grimaced in his sleep and rolled over the other way to drown
out a bothersome racket from above that was keeping him from
settling in for a good day's rest.
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Dawn paused at the top of the basement steps. It was only eleven
a.m. on a Saturday, and here she was, stuck doing laundry. She
turned back and yelled into the living room, where Buffy and Willow
were sitting, talking.
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But not quite. The Master Vampire, and part time master sneak, had
heard the exchange at the doorway, and waiting till the coast was
clear, he'd sneaked up the stairs. If he couldn't bloody sleep, he
might just as well listen in, and his newly discovered ‘intercom‘,
an air vent of some kind down in the basement, wasn't quite letting
him hear into the living room.
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Buffy sighed. She was surrounded.
Meanwhile, round the corner, Spike was getting bored out of his
mind. He was dying for a cig and was just about to slink back down
the stairs when he heard Buffy start to speak again, and stayed
where he was.
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Buffy leaned forward as she began to tell Dawn and Willow a little
about her evening with Spike.
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Waiting for Buffy`s next words, with a keen sense of dread mixed
with curiosity, was Spike. "Come on, Slayer," he whispered. "Say
it. Say the bloody name."
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"Alright, if you must know, Spike does kiss better than Angel."