Arriving at Giles's house in precisely four minutes, Buffy rang the doorbell. She was surprised when Spike opened the door. Watching her scramble for her stake, Spike gave her his fangiest grin and said,"Come in."
"It's okay, Buffy," Giles called from his living room.
Buffy entered and saw three black duffel bags neatly stacked by the door. Checking out Spike, she noticed that he was wearing his favorite outfit, red shirt and black duster.
"What's going on here?" she asked Giles who was sitting on the couch.
"The long and short of this issue is that Spike and I had a bit of a talk." Giles made his signature annoyed clicking noise in his throat. "Spike feels he is being suffocated here."
"I don't breathe," Spike put in.
Ignoring the interruption, Giles plowed onward,"He, being suffocated, wants to move." He raised his hand before Buffy could protest. "Not moving away, I do not trust him that much. He would just be moving out of this house. He would stay somewhere in Sunnydale and come here every night. He has even agreed to go and patrol with you, as long as he lives, sleeps, and eats at his own place."
"Eating, as in people?"
"I can't even get a mouthful of a real live human! I just gotta put some distance between you and me," Spike broke in giving her a hard stare.
"Look, this has nothing to do with us-" Buffy was flustered. Had Spike told Giles he was moving out because of the kisses?
"I need to distance myself from the Slayer cause I don't fancy getting staked by my own kind." His gaze got harder,"This working with the enemy thing is going to be secret. I live, I patrol, and we practice zero tolerance on all vamps.
"You help me kill every single vampire we meet? Yeah, I can see that. Also I hear voices and see spots," Buffy spat back in disbelief.
"Look, I may have switched sides, but that doesn't give me a death wish." He paid no attention to Buffy's eyes rolling at the last statement. "I may not have a soul like the poof, but my survival instincts work just great. The second anyone finds out that not only do I help the Slayer, but that I stake with her, I'm dust. I might as well go swimming in holy water or step outside for a suntan, they'll hunt me down that quick." His face shifted into the demon,"So when I'm there, everyone gets it, my friends or not."
"Spike needs your approval of his moving, and," Giles took a breath,"In the interests of his secret 'identity,' he'll tell only you where he is moving. That is my signal to leave." Obviously relieved to be finished, Giles practically ran up the stairs. "Don't break anything," he threw over his shoulder.
Buffy plopped down on the couch, and Spike lounged on a nearby arm chair, demon inside again."So you move out, you agree to kill only vampires and what-not, and you tell only me where you live."
"Basically, yeah. Except the part where I get a job."
She laughed at him,"Spike, you? A job as in one that get's money?"
Vaguely annoyed, he replied,"Yes, a job."
"What will you do? Since when do century-old undead guys have any job skills? Let me guess, head torturer, face painting? Why do you even need a job?"
Spike rolled his eyes,"A job is excellent cover because I'm moving onto the campus of UC Sunnydale."
"What?" Buffy was expecting him to move into a factory, warehouse, or crypt. "How?! What?!"
"Actually I got the house because things weren't working out between me and Harm. I kept fighting the urge to stake her so I made plans to move closer to you." To demonstrate he stood and sat next to her on the couch. A red flush hinted in her as her traitorous body reacted to his nearness.
"And where did you get this house? Do vampires have long-term savings accounts? Are you eligible for a loan?" She said fighting her sudden desire to kiss his far-too-near mouth.
"It's owner died an . . .untimely death. Fortunately he willed me all of his earthly possessions before his poor soul passed on." He lay one hand on her arm, barely managing to control his urge to pull her into his arms. He whispered into her ear,"I was going to kill you from there, but that's not an option now, is it?"
Closing her eyes and gathering her will power, she leaned away from him. Trying to keep her thoughts straight, she mentally repeated the words: vampire, bad, Angel bad, vampire, bad, Spike, evil. "Your-your job. What do you do?"
"Internet history tutor. College set me up with my own site and pays me," he chuckled. "I also fix electronics."
"I didn't know you could do that," she stammered.
"There's lots you don't know about me, pet." He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.
Ignoring the thrum of pleasure that accompanied the short kiss, she stood. "Is that your stuff by the door?"
"Yes," he followed her to the door with the easy stalking grace of a hunter. "Can I move out?" His voice had dropped almost to a purr and the burning look in his eyes belied the casualness of his question. She took a tentative step back from him and bumped into the door.
"Go ahead. Don't let me stop you."
His dark eyes now tightly controlled, Spike calmly slung his duffels over his shoulder. He reached into one of his inner pockets and pulled out a small piece of paper. "This is my new address, phone number, and cell phone number in case I'm not there."
"Got it." She took the paper from him, her warm hand touching his cool one. That short second of contact was a mistake because she lost her battle with herself. She gave a small cry and threw herself into her arms.
Arms wrapped tight, the kiss absorbed their entire beings. Human, vampire, it all faded underneath the intensity of the kiss. It was perfect; it was wrong. It was everything, but it had to be nothing. Never had such a delicious nectar tasted so sweet or so forbidden. Buffy moaned softly against his mouth, and Spike responded with a deep growl from the back of his throat.
Unbidden the thought crept into her mind, *Angel, now Spike. What is your duty?* She hesitated, and Spike, having similar thoughts, pushed her away.
"Now you see why I can't stay," Spike said his jaw set. "This is not natural. It should not be bloody happening." He pointed his finger at her. "You are the Slayer. I am a vampire. I don't have a soul or want one. You are my sire's girl, and you know it." His voice became harder,"We are enemies, and enemies don't do this."
He seized her and delivered another mind-numbing kiss to her mouth. Then he pushed her away and savagely opened the door, marching outside.
Her mind still reeling from that the self-loathing she'd tasted on his mouth from the last kiss, she followed him out. "Spike."
"What?" he bit out.
"--take care of yourself." She debated what to say next. How was the best way to tell an angry vampire not to commit suicide? "Don't do anything majorly stupid, like holy water. Get my drift?"
"Don't worry, luv. I think I found some motivation now." His eyes had that gleam again.
"Motivation?" Her motivation at this particular moment was to grab him and start the kissing all over again.
"Yeah. The usual, I want to save the world. Get my teeth back. What else?" He gave her one of his most daring grins. "You know how I like challenges. If this doesn't kill me again, I'll only be stronger. Gotta go, toodles." He turned away, all bravado, and started toward the street.
"Wait." Buffy rushed forward an planted a hard kiss on his open mouth. Before it became too intense she shoved him back. Again she wondered why the hell she was acting this way. He was the enemy, kinda.
He wiped the back of his hand across his bruising mouth. "You and I need distance. You know it too." She nodded once again knowing he was right. "This can't be happening again." With that he headed off into the darkness. Buffy watched him go in silence, alone, wondering if he wasn't lying. Would it ever happen again? She felt her tender mouth and decided she wouldn't bet either way.
Comments about this story(Was it worth the effort to read?)