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Drowning In You by BloodEnvy
 
23
 
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The vampire approached them all almost warily, and the same idle part of her mind from before compared the way he walked to the way her boyfriend did. It was like comparing the movements of a jungle cat on the hunt to a lumbering bear. He was so much graceful, his movements more fluid than Riley’s. She wondered how much of that was part of his vampiric nature and how much was part of his natural qualities. How much came from his human side.

He met her eyes almost immediately, the slight, friendly curve of his lips his only greeting. She found herself remembering the way those lips had felt as they’d pressed against hers, moved against them. Soft and gentle, fitting perfectly against her own lips. She shook herself. She shouldn’t think of it, especially not when her boyfriend was standing only a few feet away from her.

He broke away from her gaze to meet the eyes of the others and held up his hands in apology, but not before she noticed him tucking something into the deep pocket of his duster. She glanced at the others, but none of them were watching him carefully enough to have seen.

She couldn’t help the twitch of a smile that occurred in response.

“Don’t you all mind me, ‘m not one for audience participation. Just wanted to catch the show,” He assured the group, settling himself on the step that led down onto the main floor. Buffy noticed that by positioning himself there, he was on her side of the room, facing down the wall of accusers just as she was. He was on her side. “Do a friend a favor though and catch me up.” He leaned back, all balls and swagger. “I missed the first act.”

“Get the hell out of here, Spike. This isn’t any of your business, vampire.” Riley moved towards him. Buffy moved only slightly, but enough that someone with Riley Finn’s training would recognize it as defensive. She’d positioned herself between the two men; a human wall. The larger man stopped, bewildered.

“Giles found a letter… another poem… from the secret admirer here at the shop, and they’ve decided to give me the third degree about it.” Buffy explained to Spike over her shoulder, casually.

“Ah. Right then,” Spike nodded. “Thanks, love.”

“No problem,” She shrugged with a slight smirk.

“What the… What the fuck, Buffy? Spike knows about this?” Riley yelled, outraged, pointing at the vampire.

Spike didn’t flinch. In fact, he let a smirk settle on his face, making himself so comfortable. “What’s the matter, wheatgrass? Doesn’t she tell you anything?”

Riley moved forward again threateningly, only to have his chest meet with Buffy’s hand. She hadn’t put enough force behind the movement to hurt him, only jostling him barely; enough to stop him from moving forward any more than he already had. She turned enough to roll her eyes at the grinning vamp behind her, before meeting her boyfriend squarely in the eye. “Yes, he knows. Spike knows; just like everybody else in this room does, alright? Whoop de freaking doo,” she added sarcastically, and Spike snorted behind her.

“How in the world did you get in here?” Giles asked, frown on his face and arms folded. “It’s the middle of the day.”

“Sewer access in your basement, Watcher,” Spike shrugged, leaning back on his elbows. “You should keep an eye on that. Keep the bad element out.”

“Remind me to have it blocked.” Giles replied.

The vampire grinned.

“Why does Spike know, Buffy? Why the hell does that… that blood sucker know about all of this?” Riley continued like there hadn’t been any interruption.

“Because I told—“ Buffy began.

“I don’t care if Spike knows,” Giles yelled, cutting her off as Riley shot daggers at both her and the blonde still sitting on the stairs. “I do not like the idea of my Slayer receiving love notes from some deranged lunatic who’s taken a fancy!”

“I’m not just ‘your’ Slayer! I’m Buffy too!” She shouted back, her arms unfolding to gesture in the air. “I can handle this!”

Spike watched them all argue, thoughtful. He found it interesting that Buffy was defending both him and… well, him actually. She didn’t see the secret admirer… see him as a threat. She wasn’t exactly defending him; she was defending herself, but knowing that she didn’t hate what he was doing, instead was touched enough by it to defend his actions against her friends.

“We can handle this together!” Riley argued, his face reddening. The rage on his face gave way to hurt.

Buffy suddenly felt terrible. She was hurting her boyfriend, alienating him. Sighing again, heavily, she stepped carefully towards him, placing a hand on his chest again, gently this time. “I know. Riley, you know how much I… care for you. And I know you are worried about me. About… about us. But it’s okay. This admirer thing…” Buffy inhaled, “It means nothing to me. I’ll… I’ll find a way to make him stop, to tell them I’m not interested. Just… cool down, please?”

Riley smiled, wrapping her in his arms. “Okay, Buffy.”

Spike set his jaw, determined not to fly out of there like a scorned lover. He watched as she let herself be held, but found small comfort in the stiffness of her body- she didn’t want to be in the soldier’s arms anymore than he wanted her to be. A small comfort.

Making a show of it, he rolled his eyes and sighed. “Not even going to throw one bloody punch? It’s like a bleeding soap opera in here.”

Riley and Buffy broke apart, and Spike held back a growl at the possessive hand on her slim waist. Still, she didn’t seem comfortable either, so he took that as hopeful. He knew the Slayer and the way she spoke. And he knew she was lying.

He definitely meant something to her.

And that was definitely a start.
 
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