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Memories Are Made of This by slaymesoftly
 
Part 6
 
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 Part Six
 
“So that’s what she said,” Buffy concluded. “I know she hates to be wrong, or to admit she was wrong, but she’s so unhappy and she thinks we all hate her….”
 
Giles sighed, mainly at what Buffy had told him about Tara’s assessment of Willow’s state. He glanced over at the vampire occupying the chair next to Buffy. “Based on what I’m seeing now, it would appear that neither of you have much reason to be angry with her.”
 
Buffy exchanged a look with Spike and took a deep breath. “Well. Yeah. I guess she kinda did us a favor.  But—”
 
“But she has caused immeasurable harm to several others. People she professes to care about. Until she is willing to admit to both the harm she has done and that it was an unconscionable act in the first place, I’m not sure how ready she is listen to me.”
 
“But, Giles….”
 
“I’m not saying I don’t wish to help her, Buffy. Even if I did not care about Willow, I would be shirking my responsibility if I allowed an untrained witch with so much raw power to continue to stumble along on her own. However, Willow and I have something of a history of disagreeing over her use of magic. I suspect I am not the best person to assist her.”
 
Spike spoke up for the first time. “Can’t imagine the Council of Wankers doesn’t have somebody they can spare to tame an out-of-control witch.”
 
Giles nodded. “I have been discussing that with them,” he said. “We’ve determined that I will return to England—”Buffy stiffened and Spike, growling, reached for her hand.  “Only to give a full report and to meet with members of the coven.  I am hoping to find someone willing to return with me to mentor Willow.  Someone she will not resent quite as much as she does me.”  He smiled at Buffy reassuringly. “I won’t be gone long, and I will return. I promise.”
 
As Buffy squeezed Spike’s hand and moved closer to his side, Giles added, “And I am not leaving you alone.”  He turned hard eyes on Spike. “If you are serious about your feelings for Buffy, I suggest you begin acting your age and providing her with the support she needs – both in her slaying and with any financial assistance needed.”
 
“Stubborn bint won’t take money from me,” Spike said, with a sideways glance at Buffy. “I’ve already tried to help her out. She punched me in the nose. And she doesn’t listen to me any better than she does you.”
 
Buffy gave an apologetic shrug. “Well that was before we were living together. I thought you were just trying to… and anyway, you don’t have any money. You play cards for kittens!”
 
Spike and Giles exchanged long meaningful looks that resulted in Spike sighing his resignation. “Right then. No secrets.” He turned to look into Buffy’s puzzled eyes. “I have money, love.  You don’t live for as many years as I have without putting a little something away for your old age.  You’d be surprised how the interest mounts up over a hundred years and more.  I never meant to give you money I came by dishonestly. Knew you wouldn’t want that. Was either going to earn it playing honest poker, or working as a bouncer somewhere if you wouldn’t take it from my stash.”
 
“You have a stash?”
 
“Figure of speech, Slayer. Point is – I have money to access if and when you—we need it. Or I can make an honest living. Whatever gets your knickers in less of a twist.”
 
She glared at him, then began to smile. “Huh. You’re rich. Who knew? I see a lot of new shoes in my future.”
 
“I see new pipes in the basement,” he countered. “And maybe some new furniture.”
 
She narrowed her eyes at him and looked back and forth between Spike and Giles, who was trying to hide a smile. “You’re not going to be fun any more, are you?”
 
“Watcher said to act my age,” he smirked, “but…” He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, causing her to turn bright pink and roll her eyes. Satisfied that he’d indicated just how much fun he could be, he leaned back and smiled at Giles.
 
“Got to admit, Watcher. I wasn’t expectin’ you to be happy about this.” He gestured with the hand that was still holding Buffy’s.
 
“I believe ‘happy’ would be wildly overstating things,” Giles said. “However, as the vampires in Buffy’s life go, you are a vast improvement over the last one. It remains to be seen how the Council responds to the news.”
 
“You’re going to tell them?” Buffy managed to sound hurt and indignant at the same time.
 
Giles shook his head. “No. But you must understand that they will probably already know about it long before I get there. The Council has a long reach, and I am only a small portion of it.  They tolerated Angel because of the soul, but William the Bloody, a vampire that has killed two Slayers in his time, is another thing entirely.”
 
“Tell ‘em about the chip,” Spike said quickly. “That they’ll believe. Nobody’s going to believe that I’m harmless because I’m in love with Buffy. Not after Angelus.”
 
“Quite,” Giles said, his slight grimace reminding them both of what he had lost to Buffy’s last vampire lover.
 
“Spike would never—”
 
Giles exchanged a look with Spike, then nodded. “No, I suppose he wouldn’t. However, I doubt the Council will see it that way. Another reason why it is so important that I make this trip. I’ll be taking my journals with me so that they can get a sense of how our inexplicable and somewhat shaky trust of William the Bloody has evolved over the past several years.”
 
“Don’t forget to tell them how he helped me take down Angelus,” Buffy said. “That was a long time ago. It shows how different he is from most vamps.”
 
“Actually… “ Giles paused, then continued. “I believe the Council itself has negotiated with other master vampires from time to time when the world was at stake or there was some other threat of equal danger to both races.  Of course, it’s very rare, and they were much older than Spike is, and they were dealing with the highest levels of the Council, but….”
 
“Those lying, holier-than-thou….”
 
“Bloody bastards.”
 
“That too.” Buffy glared at Giles. “These are the people who tried to tell me I couldn’t date Angel because he was a vampire and couldn’t be trusted?  This is who you think has to be convinced that Spike is….”  She threw her hands in the air. “Can you spell ‘hypocrite’?”
 
“The point is, Buffy, that the records will support both your truce with Spike several years ago, as well as your current trust in him. It is not as unheard of as one might think.”
 
They all looked up, startled, as Anya burst into the shop, halting when she saw Spike and Buffy.  She kept her eyes on them, noting their closeness and the fact that Spike was still holding Buffy’s hand; she visibly relaxed.
 
“Oh, so you’re back together. Good. Maybe we can stop hiding now.”
 
“You old dog, Rupert,” Spike said, understanding more quickly than Buffy the meaning behind Anya’s relief.
 
“Hiding?” Buffy stared from Anya to Giles’ embarrassed face. “Who are you hiding fro…. Oh.”
 
Spike looked at Giles. “Boy’s not going to take this well,” he said, his voice and face grim.
 
Anya walked over to stand behind Giles. “He is a boy,” she said. “And I’m really over a thousand years old.  I do like Xander, but I’m much too old for him.”
 
“Oooooh. Poor Xander.” Buffy’s genuine concern made them all pause. “What’s he going to do now?”
 
Anya shrugged, but Giles shook his head.  “I’m hoping that by the time I come back from England, Anya will have been able to let him down gently – and without bringing my name into it.  With luck, by the time I return, he will have accepted his newly single status and will not connect it with Willow’s spell.”
 
“Yeah, good luck with that.”  Buffy rolled her eyes.
 
“It’s the best we can do. I’m sure it will be difficult for him; however, Anya should not have to remain bound to a man she has determined is not right for her. Surely he will understand that.”
 
Anya shook her head as she and Buffy exchanged looks of disbelief at Giles’ lack of common sense.  “I’ve tried to tell him,” Anya said with a sigh. “Xander never got over his crush on you, and knowing you’re with another vampire is not going to make him happy. Willow is… well, as much as he and Willow care about each other, he’s not her type anymore and I think he has accepted that.  And now, I’m leaving him for a man who—”
 
“Who Xander thinks is too old to even date women his own age,” Buffy said, shaking her head. “Oh, this is not going to end well.”
 
Spike groaned and shut his eyes. “Do you think we could just take a long trip somewhere for a while? Maybe take the Bit with us and not come back until all of this has blown over?”
 
 “Spike! These are my friends. I have to be here to support them in their time of need.”
 
“Right,” he growled. “’Cause they’ve always done that for you.”
 
Giles flinched at the reminder that there had been times, some quite recently, in which he had failed Buffy rather spectacularly.
 
“We’ll talk about this later,” she said, her face set into an expression that both men recognized only too well.
 
“Lookin’ forward to it,” Spike sighed, leaning back in his seat.  He raised one eyebrow at Giles.  “So, that’s your plan? Scamper off back to Merrie Olde and leave Anyanka to explain to her ex that she’s over it?”
 
“She hasn’t been living with him since the spell ended. If he hasn’t figured it out by now, he is even denser than he seems.”
 
Spike glanced at Buffy. “Did you know that? That she hadn’t gone back to him?”
 
“Well, yeah, kinda, but I didn’t know she was…” Her voice trailed off as she gestured back and forth between Giles and Anya.  “I guess that was kind of dumb of me, huh?”
 
“Fortunately for us, all of you have been too worried about your own issues to notice what anyone else was doing.”
 
Buffy shot Anya a hard look, trying to decide if she had just been called self-centered, but Anya just blinked innocently and rested her hand on Giles’ shoulder. 
 
Continuing as if the glare hadn’t happened, she said, “And Xander has been very busy at work. Once he explained what had happened to us – leaving out the magic part – and apologized, they hired him back and gave him a lot to do.  I really haven’t seen him very much, and he hasn’t even asked if I’m coming…” The word “home” hung in the air until she came up with, “…back to the apartment. I think maybe he’s still mad about the orgasms Giles gave me while we thought we were engaged.” She patted Giles on the head and beamed. “He’s quite skilled you know. Probably not as capable as a vampire, but—”
 
All three spoke at once: “TMI! Anya!” “Scrubbing my brain – now!” “Go on, luv. Tell us more about—ow!” Spike’s remark was cut off when Buffy elbowed him in the diaphragm. “Right. More than we need to know. Absolutely.”
 
“On that note….” Buffy stood up and waited for Spike to get the message. When he was standing beside her, she continued, “We’re going to patrol and… stuff. When are you leaving?”
 
“In a few days. The sooner I go, the sooner I can get back with help for Willow.  I am charging you with keeping her under control while I’m gone.”
 
“Trust me, Giles, she’s so unhappy and disappointed in herself, I don’t think she’ll do any magic for a long time.”  Buffy didn’t miss the looks of disbelief exchanged among the other people in the room.  “She is sorry. She wants us to not be mad at her anymore. So no more magic. You’ll see. Come on, Spike.”
 
Spike exchanged looks with Giles, shrugging helplessly before following Buffy out the door.
 
 
~~~~~~~
 
They strolled through several cemeteries, finding only a couple of fledglings and one cute, furry demon that Spike assured Buffy was perfectly capable of taking her hand off if she tried to pet it.
 
“Is it evil then? Should I slay it?”  She looked unhappy at the thought of slaying the round little ball of fur that was cocking its head at her.
 
“Nah. Not evil, love. Just better able to take care of itself than it might seem. You leave him alone, he’ll leave you alone.”  When she hesitated, he added, “And he doesn’t eat people or kittens.”
 
“Okay,” she agreed, waving the unperturbed creature away. After watching him waddle off, she hopped up onto a substantial tombstone.  “I’m bored. There’s nothing out here worth killing…”
 
“Can’t offer up something to slay, but I think I can handle that little boredom issue,” he purred, coming up behind her and kissing her neck. She leaned back, tilting her head to give him better access and murmured her approval. His hands slid around to cup her breasts, his thumbs running over her nipples which were quickly visible under her shirt.  “Bloody hell, Buffy,” he said, pressing himself into her back and worrying her neck with his blunt teeth. “It’s been too long. Want you so bad—”
 
Buffy’s “eep!” was more from surprise than excitement as she spotted Xander walking through the gate of the cemetery.
 
“Fuckin’ idiot,” Spike snarled, standing up straight and removing his hands from Buffy’s chest. “What’s he doing comin’ in here by himself?”
 
Xander got close enough to really see them at the same time, halting when he realized who the couple was that he’d seen necking on a tombstone. He put the stake he’d been carrying back in his pocket as he waited for them to approach.
 
“Xander? What were you doing?”
 
He shrugged. “Thought I saw a vamp biting somebody. I have a stake with me, so…” He frowned at them. “I guess I did see a vamp trying to bite somebody, didn’t I?”
 
“Wasn’t biting her, you git,” Spike growled, shoving his hands in his pockets and searching for his cigarettes.  “But if I was, you’d be dead now.”
 
“I don’t know if what you were going to do is really brave, or really dumb.” Buffy smiled at Xander to take the sting from her words.
 
“Oh, I’m pretty sure it was dumb. That’s pretty much my MO, isn’t it? Doing dumb stuff? Like falling in love with an ex-vengeance demon and thinking she’d marry me? How dumb is that?”
 
Spike and Buffy exchanged looks.
 
“What are those looks about? Have you seen her? I’m right, aren’t I? She doesn’t want to marry me any more.”
 
“We did see her tonight,” Buffy began, ignoring a warning nudge from Spike.  “She… uh… she said she thought you might be still mad at her for… you know, spell stuff.”
 
He sighed and turned to follow them as they began to walk out of the graveyard. “I was for awhile. It’s probably a good thing she didn’t come home right away. I don’t know what I would have said to her.”
 
“I think we were all left not knowing what to say to anybody,” Buffy said, resting a sympathetic hand on his arm. “Spike and I avoided each other like the plague… until tonight.”
 
“She took some of her clothes,” Xander said, ignoring Buffy’s attempt to smooth things over. “And her makeup out of the bathroom.  She comes during the day, when I’m at work, so I don’t have to see her doing it. I don’t think she’s coming back,” he finished, shoulders slumping. 
 
“Not a good enough reason to be trying to do the Slayer’s job for her,” Spike said, his voice gruff, but sympathetic.  “Had your own doubts, didn’t you? Back when you had us all singing and dancin’. Wasn’t that all about wondering if it was going to work out?”
 
Xander gave Spike a look of disbelief. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”
 
“What? No, ‘course not.” He snorted. “Like I give rat’s ass how you feel.  But if you go out and get yourself killed or turned, it’s going to hurt Buffy – and that I do care about.”
 
“Okay. You had me worried there for a minutes. I thought… Yeah. Good to know some things haven’t changed.”
 
“Some things have, Xander,” Buffy said quietly, taking Spike’s hand and moving closer to him.  “The spell made some changes in everybody’s life.”
 
“Why do I get the feeling you don’t just mean you and fangface getting all smoochy there?”
 
“Well, that’s a biggie – for me, anyway. But, yeah, there are lots of changes going on. Giles is going to see the Council about getting an experienced witch here to try to mentor Willow. So he’s leaving in a couple of days….”
 
“Tara’s staying away, huh?”
 
“Un huh. When I talked to her, she was pretty adamant that Willow needed to understand why what she did was so wrong and be sorry she did it, not just sorry it backfired. I don’t think she’s coming back anytime soon.”
 
“I guess I should come by and see Willow,” he said with a sigh. “I haven’t been a very good friend to my best friend.”
 
“Yeah, Anya said— Crap. Sorry.”
 
“It’s okay. Anya said what?”
 
“She said we’ve all been so busy with our own personal issues after the spell, that nobody has noticed anything about anybody else’s problems.  I guess we’ve all been lousy friends.”
 
“I’ll come by tomorrow after work and talk to Willow,” Xander said, stopping by his car. “I think I’ll go on home now.  Watch some TV, drink some beer….”
 
Buffy and Spike exchanged looks, then Spike jerked his head for her to start walking.  She gave Xander a hug and started up the street, leaving Spike with a very curious Xander.
 
“What?” he finally said.
 
“Look… If it wasn’t that me and Buffy hadn’t even talked to each other until just a few hours ago, I’d send her home and come drink your beer and help you watch your fancy telly. But, she’s… and I… and we… We have some catching up to do, you know?”
 
“Got the picture. I’ll poke my eyes out when I get home. You go on. You kids have fun.”  He opened the driver’s side door, checked the back seat, earning an approving nod from Spike, and started to get in. He paused and turned his head. “Spike?” The vampire glanced back at him. “Thanks.”
 
With a wave, Spike strode after Buffy, catching up to her and taking her hand.
 
“That was really nice of you,” she said, squeezing his hand.
 
“Tell anybody about it and I’ll rip your throat out.”
 
She just laughed and put her arm around his waist. “Bring it on, vampire. Bring it on.”
 
 
 
After two more cemeteries, they agreed that they’d done all they could to patrol for the night. They joined hands again, squeezing tightly as they walked toward the apartment together for the first time in weeks.  Their speed increased the closer they got until, by the time they reached the outside stairs, they were almost running.  Spike’s key was already out when they hit their floor and the door slammed open almost immediately. He kicked it shut behind him and slammed the deadbolt home without looking.
 
Suddenly shy, they just stood still, staring at each other with wonder and no small amount of trepidation.
 
“So, we’re going to do this, huh? No more Randy and Joan – just Spike and Buffy. Out there for everybody to see.”
 
“I was thinkin’ more about in here where nobody can see us, but yeah. I’m game if you are. You know that, Buffy. This might be new to you, but I’ve been wishing for this for a long, long time. I love you, Slayer. The spell didn’t make that happen, and it didn’t make it go away. The rest is up to you. You either want me in your life or you don’t.”
 
“If I didn’t… if I didn’t think I wanted you, we wouldn’t be standing here. I just… you might have to be patient with me. I don’t think I’m where you are and I…”
 
“Got enough patience for the both of us, Buffy. I can wait. All I ever asked for was a crumb, some sign that maybe, someday…” He shook his head and began walking toward her.  “This is more than I ever dreamed of, and if I have to spend one more second talking about it instead of just kissing you senseless…”
 
“Kissing would be good—”
 
Spike’s lips were on hers before she could finish speaking. When neither of them wanted to remain standing, he scooped her up and crossed the room. Rather than ripping her clothes off as she’d half-expected him to, he just laid her down and joined her on the bed. Face-to-face, they stared into each other’s eyes, his soft and warm, Buffy’s hesitant but firmly fixed on his.
 
“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered, stroking her hair and face. “Thought I’d never get to do this again.”
 
“I missed you too,” she admitted. “I’m so used to having you around… not just as Randy,” she explained quickly. “I was used to having Spike around, and then you weren’t there anymore and I didn’t know where you went and—” He stopped her with a kiss that deepened and went on for some time.
 
“Could have stopped at you missed me, love. That’s good enough for me. Don’t give a bloody fig if it’s Randy or Spike, as long as you want one of us, I’m happy.”
 
“Can I have both of you?” She smiled as she ran her hand over his chest and watched his eyes darken. “You know, Spike when I need backup on patrol, and Randy when…” She paused and took a deep breath. “… when we get home?”
 
His response was to pin her to the bed and begin kissing her as if they’d been apart for years rather than weeks.  As he began the expected ripping off of her clothes, she was comforted to know she had others waiting in the dresser drawers – a thought that came and went very quickly as he shed his own jeans and tee-shirt and pulled her against his body, growling his need.
 
 
It turned out Spike was a bit rougher than the more gentlemanly Randy, but this Slayer was more than a match for him and they quickly reached a mutually satisfying conclusion that left them both bruised and panting.  As she relaxed into his side, Buffy gave a contented hum and surveyed the damage they’d done to the bed.
 
“As much as I like it here, I think maybe your crypt where all the horizontal surfaces are made of stone might be a better place to live.”  She felt his chest shake as he chuckled.
 
“Can live wherever you like, love. But I really don’t think my crypt is a good choice. Maybe we can find a nice basement apartment and buy some new, sturdier, furniture.”
 
“My house has a basement,” she said, trailing one finger down his chest and watching with interest as his nipples perked up. She waited, unconsciously holding her breath, for him to reply.  When he was silent, she sat up and stared down at him.
 
“What’s wrong? Why should we pay rent if I own a house? Are you too macho to live in my house?”
 
He laughed and pulled her over on top of him. “Know my place is under you, love. I’ve never doubted it.  I just don’t want to cause any more of an uproar than we already have. Don’t want you to lose all your friends over this.”
 
“Pfft! My friends survived Angel and Angelus; and they didn’t even like him. They won’t mind you at all….”
 
“You can’t even get that lie out with a straight face,” he said with a smile. “I might be more charming and fun than the great broody one, but I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who’s noticed it.”
 
“That’s not true. Dawn loves you. And Tara has been on your side since you proved to her family that she wasn’t a demon.  Of course, you’ve never tried to kill her…” She shook herself. “Nevermind. Xander might freak, but he’ll get over it because you’re his only guy friend. Willow… Willow’s got too much apologizing to do to be throwing stones at anybody else.”
 
“And the watcher has given us his reluctant blessing,” he said with a nod. “So, the question is, can William the Bloody be happy living in the Slayer’s basement and sharing the house with two or three other women?” His expression indicated that he wasn’t at all sure that was going to be the case.
 
Buffy sighed. “Are we going to start fighting over this? Joan and Randy never—”
 
He just raised an eyebrow at her and she bit off the rest of the lie.  “Okay. But they didn’t fight very much, and they never stayed mad…”
 
“You know why they never stayed mad? “ he purred, leaning up to run his lips down her neck and nibbling a path across her chest, pausing at each nipple to suckle it briefly.  Buffy gasped and squirmed, rolling off him so that he could have better access to her body. He followed eagerly, kissing his way down her torso and smiling at the way she was involuntarily arching her hips off the bed. 
 
“W… why?” she managed to get out between needy whimpers. 
 
He buried his face between her open thighs and began licking up the moisture he found there.  Buffy’s fingers were tangled in the sheets and she was making small gasping sounds as he worked.  As soon as she’d given a small scream and ridden out her orgasm with his head clenched between her thighs, he pulled it free and beamed at her. “Because, of the wonderful make-up sex.”
 
“Oh, yeah, that.” She wriggled under him, tugging on his shoulders until he moved up and slid into her. They gave matching contented sighs. “We should probably fight more often.”
 
As he began to move his hips, he snorted a laugh. “Really don’t think it’s going to be a problem, love.”
 
“Probably not.” She clenched hard enough to make him groan in appreciation. “Cause you’re always going to be doing something to make me mad.”
 
Eyes rolling back at the sensation, he managed to say, “Gonna give it my best shot, Slayer. You’ve got my promise.”
 
The End
 
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