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Chapter 12
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Buffy stretched, feeling every wonderfully used muscle in her body sigh in contentment. Spike was still sleeping peacefully. Buffy climbed from the
wreckage that was once her bed and went to make sure the curtains were tightly closed, letting in no pesky sunlight to make her lover combust.

"Food…food and maybe find that toolbox Spike wanted. Yup, Buffy with a mission," she thought with a smile. She couldn’t remember a time when she had felt so complete and when her life seemed to just be right in every way. She brushed her hand across Spike’s forehead, moving back his soft curls. He really did look adorable with his hair all curly and that soft look on his face as he slept. "He really should take
a job posing for the art department at the University. He’s made for it, and more cash isn’t bad for dating goodness either. I’ll have to suggest it to him." She
thought about the many life studies and sculpted bits that were just begging to be done of his yummy perfection.

As wonderful as the last night had been, Buffy still faced a long day. She had to get a job. The bill for the full copper re-piping job had wiped out the small
cushion the Summers sisters had for their day-to-day living expenses. The Bot idea was a work in progress, but there needed to be an immediate transfusion to the bank
account before their entire financial world hemorrhaged to death. Spike making a few dollars as an art model so he could take Buffy to a nice restaurant on occasion was one thing, but there were all those other reasons for money to be an issue.
There were stacks of them in the roll-top desk downstairs.

Still, before going to meet Xander about a job on his construction crew, she was going to go to the University and look up the head of the art department to see about that idea she had for Spike.

Buffy heated up a mug of blood for Spike and put it on the tray she had arranged with her toast, coffee, orange juice and cereal. She located one of her mom’s
old bud vases and went to the yard to pick a couple of yellow roses from her mother’s favorite bush to put in the vase. "I wonder how long it’s been since Spike
had breakfast in bed," she wondered. "Well, non-screaming breakfast, that is."

Spike was still sleeping when she got back to her room. She sat the tray on the vanity and leaned down to the broken bed with the sexy, sleeping vampire. "Hey, sleeping beauty, time for some yummy piggy juice and toast." She kissed Spike on the lips. ‘Even asleep he responds!’ she thought. She slipped her tongue past his lips and teased her lover awake.

"’Lo, love. Thought I was dreamin’. Nicest wake up I’ve ever had," Spike said and then stretched.

"Hum…think I can do better. Maybe tomorrow I’ll make this seem like nothing." Her teasing hints of delights to come made Spike harden in anticipation.

"Tomorrow? That mean what I want it to mean? This isn’t a one time thing for you then?" Spike had hardly dared to hope, having half expected Buffy to panic, change her mind and kick him to the curb. The thought that she might be considering this the start to a relationship was beyond anything he’d hoped to happen.

"Of course. Well, unless you’rethinking I’m not worth another go." Buffy was still sensitive about her talents and allure, thanks to the one-two punch of Angelus and Parker.

"Bloody well need to cut my tongue out for that, pet. Didn’t mean it even then, just wanted to get your fire started and get you back in the fight. Knew that’d do it. You’re perfect, Buffy, in every way. If it’s up to me, I’ll spend the rest of your life waking up next to you. Help make sure it’s a long life, too. No one I’d
rather fight beside, sleep beside and shag six ways to Sunday than you, Buffy."

Blushing, Buffy brought the tray over and sat on the mattress with Spike to have breakfast. "You can stay here if you want. It’s daylight and I’ll be home
before time to patrol. I’ll leave a note for everybody not to wake you when they get home later. And if you’re feeling up to it, I brought up that toolbox so you can fix our little problem here." She patted the bed as she spoke. "I may use some of my first paycheck for a more sturdy bed. Two super-powered lovers can go through lots of wooden Ikea frames!"

"So, pet, where are you going to be while you have a wide awake, naked vampire all alone in your bed, wishing you were there?"

"Xan’s arranged for me to try for a place on his construction crew. I figure I can use my Slayer strength for paycheck-earning goodness. Shouldn’t be too hard to learn how to build stuff instead of tearing it down. I’m going by UCS first to pick up some information for you." Buffy smirked and took a bite of her cereal.

"You want me to go to college? Already did that a century ago, love. Can’t exactly transfer those credits though." Spike raised his eyebrows in confusion. Just what was this all about?

"Nope, no ‘Spikey goes to college’. I have this idea, but I want to talk to the department head first, okay?" Buffy had a look on her face that told Spike he wasn’t getting anything else from her until she was good and ready.

"So you’ll be layin’ bricks with the whelp then? Hate to see you have to slave out there. Slaying’s a hard enough job to fit in, along with raising the Bit. Did
you change your mind about using the Bot?"

"No, that’s still a go. In fact, Giles has an idea to try to get the Council to give me a scholarship so I can go back to school. He wanted to get them to put
me on salary, but they booted his butt out the door for even suggesting that. Once we get the Bot ready for prime time, I might be able to quit and just go
back to school. Until then, we need some money coming in here. Those pipes wiped us out and the pile of bills isn’t getting any smaller. It wouldn’t have been so bad if that nasty bank loan officer had just given me a loan, especially after I killed that demon for him." Buffy pouted slightly at that memory before continuing.
"Until then, this’ll be fine. Hey, I already get along with my foreman!"

They finished breakfast and Spike offered to wash up while Buffy got ready for her first big day at work. "I’ll have the bed up and braced by the time you’re
ready to give it a trial run." He smirked at Buffy’s flushed face.

They kissed tenderly and Buffy headed off to the campus before reporting for work.

~~~

Xander felt like a first class jerk. It was bad enough having to fire Buffy after the whole demon killing thing went down. When Angel showed up tonight to fix the Spike problem, she was going to really be pissed. He knew she’d thank him once she started to think straight again, but in the meantime it was going to be a rough ride. Xander really wished that the job had worked out, at least then Buffy wouldn’t be able to deep-freeze him over the Spike intervention.

He rushed in to phone the Magic Box and give Anya the heads-up on Buffy’s job situation. "Hey, An. Yes, I love you too. No, I didn’t forget to mail the
invitations. Honey…honey…Anya! Listen, Buffy’s on her way over to talk to Giles about working there at the Magic Box for a while. …… No, it didn’t work
out here. … No, Anya it wasn’t because Buffy hasn’t got a penis. Look, sweetheart, I’ll tell you all about that part of it tonight. Right now I just need you to try to help Buffy do well when she takes on the wonderful world of retail. She’s had one weird day and after what we heard last night, it’s probably the last thing she needs. I’d really appreciate it if you’d take her under your wing, you know, mentor her? Thanks, sweetie. I’ll see you at six, okay? Love you too."

He’d done all he could do for his friend. The rest was up to her, with a bit of help from one pissed off, souled vampire. Angel had mumbled something about
still recovering from feeling his age and some guy named Fred who was expecting his parents to come to town. As soon as Xander mentioned it was SPIKE that Buffy had spent last night with, Angel had changed his tune completely. Xander had to talk fast to convince Angel to wait until tonight to shake some sense into Buffy and hopefully stake some wood into Spike at the same time.

~~~

Buffy looked like she had gone ten rounds with a whole community of M’Fashniks. She was tired, sore and oppressed by mystical forces she couldn’t comprehend. Her whole day had sucked majorly.

First, time had gone wonky at the University and she hadn’t even had a chance to talk to the lady in charge of hiring models for the Fine Arts department. Tara
had reason to think Buffy had lost her mind and she, the Slayer, had finally had to hide under an outdoor table!

Her much needed job with Xander had started out fine. Okay, some of the guys were jerks, but Buffy had sort of looked forward to kicking their asses by making them look like slackers to the crew bosses. Why the demon population decided to hunt her down in daylight was a mystery, but the least they could have done was stay solid after she’d killed them. Instead Buffy had looked like a liar or worse and was out of a job.

Buffy was humiliated by having to throw herself on the mercy of Giles and sweet talk him into of a job at the Magic Box. That job had turned into a whole other level of hell! It was like that stupid but funny movie with Bill Murray and the groundhog. If she never saw another mummy hand as long as she lived, it would be too soon.

Now she was looking forward to a hot bath and even hotter sex with her new sweetheart. If Spike wasn’t there when she got home, she was going to just pull the
covers over her head and have a good cry.

Spike could tell Buffy had a rotten day with just one look. He’d seen her look perkier after being ambushed by Fyarls. "You look beat, pet. Everything okay?"

Buffy wrapped her arms around him and started sobbing out her story. She told him every miserable detail from start to finish, ending it by showing him the
small metal disc that had been involved with the wonky time thing at the University. "The universe must hate me!"

"No, love. Universe loves you. You’re their Joan of Arc, their Boadicea. You’re special to them, precious, just like you are to me." Spike was smoothing her hair and holding her close. "Why don’t you go up and have a nice soak and I’ll bring you a glass of wine. Make you feel all new again. I’ll even give you a foot rub, yeah?"

"I won the boyfriend lottery! If you do back rubs too, you’re in." Buffy knew it was probably something he was planning to do anyway. Spike was the most tactile guy she knew, always touching. She liked it.

"Deal. Now upstairs with you," Spike smiled as she saluted and turned towards the stairway, limping slightly. He tilted his head and watched her moving more slowly than he’d ever seen. "Baby’s tired," he thought and scooped her up in his arms,
holding her closely and securely.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Buffy giggled a bit.

"Sweepin’ my lady off her feet, of course." Spike dropped a kiss on her smiling face and carried her up the stairs to her bedroom. "Why don’t you see about
getting out of those while I get the bath ready." He motioned towards her clothes.

"I see we have a bed to sleep in again," Buffy said, impressed in spite of herself. Spike doing handyman duty…the mind boggled.

"Promised, didn’t I? Always keep my promises to you." He began to draw a bath for his sore and tired girl, making sure the water was just the right temperature for a proper soak. A bit of a search revealed Buffy’s collection of smellies and Spike rooted through it until he found a lovely jar of bath salts that promised to
‘soothe aching muscles while enveloping the bather in the exotic scents of a tropical garden’. "Yeah, that sounds about right." He poured a couple handfuls in
the water and stirred it in.

Buffy wasn’t in the bathroom yet, so he took the time to pull out a handful of small votive candles from the same cabinet and place them around the bathroom, lighting them. "Little music then," he said and tuned the radio to a smooth jazz station.

"Wow, full service boyfriend! Nice." Buffy was standing in the doorway wearing her pink silk robe and nothing else. "This looks like heaven, not that I’ve ever been there."

Spike smiled as he devoured her with his eyes. He drew his lower lip between his teeth and quirked his eyebrows suggestively before speaking. "Gotta get my girl feelin’ more like herself, now don’t I? Nice soak to music and candlelight, bit of wine and a massage will fix you right up. Then while you take a little nap, I’ll see what’s in the fridge that hasn’t got something growin’ on it and call you for dinner, okay? If you’re feeling up to it, maybe a little ride on the bike’ll do you some good before turnin’ in for the night. I think you’ve earned a night off patrollin’."

Buffy felt the warm water slide over her body as softly as her silk robe had. She leaned back with closed eyes, enjoying the smells and sounds and feeling of pure relaxation that Spike had prepared for her. She sighed in complete contentment. "Yup, finally picked a winner here," she thought. "A keeper if ever there was one."

"Here you go. Just lie back and enjoy. I’ll be in to wash your back and give you that massage in about a half hour." Spike promised. He handed her a glass of
Cabernet Sauvignon, turned out the overhead light and pulled the door closed to keep the drafts out.

~~~

One luxurious soak, full body massage and a short nap later, Buffy felt like a new woman. Something smelled like it was burning and it woke Buffy up. She raced
downstairs thinking the house was on fire.

"Sorry, pet. Not much call for vamp chefs. I burned dinner." Spike looked like a little boy caught with a broken lamp.

Buffy couldn’t help but smile and reassure him. "That’s okay, Spike. I’m not much of a cook either. Why do you think I fixed toast and cereal for our breakfast in bed? You said something about a ride on that big scary motorcycle, didn’t you? We can pick up something while we’re out. I may not be able to pay the gas bill, but I can spring for some drive-thru heart attacks on a bun. Let me go up and change into
something that says ‘biker chick’ and we can let the smoke clear here. You wanna write a note for Dawn?" She kissed Spike and headed back upstairs to find some
leather and lace.

Twenty minutes later, the new lovers were headed towards Highway 101 and never even noticed passing the black convertible with the fuming souled vampire at the wheel.
~~~