holiday

The lights from the Christmas tree blinked merrily in the background as the vampire and the key sat at the kitchen island. Baskets of craft supplies and plastic bags were piled haphazardly all around Spike and Dawn. "You know, nothing really screams 'I'm the Big Bad' like the smell of Juicy Fruit gum," teased Dawn.

"Blame your sister, not me, bit," said Spike, snapping his gum. "She's the one with a bug up her ass about my ashtray mouth or some such nonsense."

"You could ask her to get you some gum that's less girly," suggested Dawn.

"What would be a more evil flavor, hmm? Spearmint? Cinnamon?" Spike sighed loudly. He flung his string of berries down on the counter and took a big chug of eggnog. "What's the point of stringing these stupid little berries on thread anyway? Buffy's been channeling Martha Stewart?"

"They are decorative," explained Dawn. "We'll hang them on the Christmas tree."

"Oh, that's lovely! They look like entrails. How festive," Spike says sarcastically.

Dawn gave the cranky vampire the evil eye. "What is bothering you? I haven't seen you this testy for a while now. All this holiday cheer bringing you down?"

Spike looked at her. And sighed again. "Don't want to discuss it, Dawn."

"Vampire problem? Buffy problem? C'mon, you can tell me,” she pleaded.

Spike scratched his head, mussing his hair thoroughly. "I'll show you. But you can't tell anyone, not a peep." Dawn's face lit up and she nodded happily. Spike stood up and fumbled through the pocket of his duster. He came up with a handful of change, some crumpled chewing gum wrappers, and a small blue velvet box. He looked down at it, hesitated, and then slowly handed it to Dawn.

She cracked open the box. Inside it lay a round diamond set in a platinum setting. "Oh my gosh! You're going to ask Buffy to marry you?" Dawn asked, her eyes wide.

"Well, that was the thought. But now I'm not so sure. The more I dwell on it, the more insane it seems."

Spike paced back and forth. He stopped to grab a ballpoint pen from the table and continued. The pen waved jauntily in the side of his mouth as he chewed on it. "I miss my sodding smokes. What the hell do I need to quit for? Whole thing is stupid."

"Smoking? Or getting married?" asked Dawn with a straight face.

He stopped pacing and looked at Dawn. "Niblet, she is going to laugh in my face. Why the hell would she want to marry me? I mean, I know why I want to marry her. I'm topsy-turvy in love with her and I want her to be mine. I want to belong to her, and to you. I want us to be a real family all together. And- "

Buffy burst through the back door, covered in mud. It was dripping down her nose, in her eyes, and caked to her head. She also looked extremely pissed off. "Demons that barf mud? Repulsive much!" Spike looked stricken and dove to grab the ring box from Dawn. Dawn panicked and flailed her arm. The ring box sailed through the air, slamming Buffy right between the eyes. "Dammit. OW!" The box bounced off her face and landed neatly on the toe of her filthy boot.

Spike choked in shock. He bit the pen in his mouth and black ink poured over his lips and dribbled down his chin. "Ah! Bloody hell." He hastily spit black ink into a napkin and dabbed at his face.

Buffy leaned over to pick up the box. "What is this?" Both Buffy and Dawn grabbed for the box. They cracked heads, screeching in pain. Buffy's leg shot out. The box spiked into the floor, and out rolled the ring. End over end, it continued to roll until it ran into Spike's boot, where it stopped with a chime and clank.

"What in the hell is going on?" yelled Buffy, hands on hips. Dawn stared at her, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Across the counter, Spike stared at Buffy, inky mouth hanging wide open.

"We- we-we-we-", he stammered. He closed his eyes and clamped his jaw shut, focused, and tried again. "We were sitting around sniffing glue from one of your sodding holiday projects and we are now stoned out of our minds. Both of us. Sniffed up a storm, we did. High as bloody kites." He gave her a fierce glare, then reached down and picked up the ring, shoving it in the pocket of his jeans. "I'm off. I need to- shower. Yep, right dirty now." He paused, looking confused again. "Cause it's really fun to - shower- when you're high!" Recovering his equilibrium, he smiled and tromped down the hallway.

Buffy turned to Dawn, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. "Um,” stammered Dawn. “Sorry about the-uh- being high thing. And the box in the face thing. And - I have math to do now. OK, bye." She fled.

“But you’re on winter vacation,” Buffy called after her. “You don’t have any homework!” Completely confused, Buffy stared around the kitchen. As she looked at the counter, she saw the half finished cranberry garlands, thread and needles. On the floor lay the velvet jewelry box. She picked it up and read "Sunnydale Diamonds" in gold lettering inside the little box. She sat down heavily in a kitchen chair.

She leaned back and snapped the box open and shut, open and shut, as her eyes grew misty. Buffy went to the telephone and dialed. "Hey Tara. I need a favor. Can Dawn come and spend the night with you? Great. It's important."Spike stood under the shower with water pouring down his head as he methodically slammed his skull into the tile wall. "Bugger- fuck- damn- hell- piss-" He shivered as a sharp, small nail descended down the curve of his spine. He looked over his shoulder to see Buffy standing behind him.

She stared up at him, her eyes shining a sweet and steady green. Spike opened his mouth to begin a rambling explanation. His hands started windmilling around. Buffy brushed her hand across his cheek and smiled at him. "Don't talk now," she said.