What A Girl Wants

Chapter 5—Never Met A Girl Like You Before

Buffy and Willow left the house at the same time. At the end of the sidewalk, they started to turn in opposite directions, and paused, Buffy wrapping Will in a huge hug.

“Just tell her you’re afraid. Tell her how much you love her. And tell her she’s more important to you than the magic.”

“She is, Buffy, she is. I just hope that she sees that….”

“She will, Willow. You just have to let her see it.”

They parted then, neither one of them looking back.

There was a definite bounce to her step as she walked to Restfield. Tonight they would be moving him in, and tonight she would sleep with him in her arms. Well, maybe sleep after a little while, she thought with a smile. She bounded effortlessly up to the crypt, and opened the door.

His stuff was piled next to the door. A couple of boxes. A suitcase. His duster. He stood across the room, looking at something. She couldn’t tell what it was from here.

Doubtful she would find out, either, since he quickly shoved it away into a small metal box. He brought it over to the pile, shoved it in the top of one of the boxes, and reached for her.

“Hello, kitten. How are you today?”

She smiled, and his heart rolled lazily in his chest. “Wonderful. After I left here, I walked home with Dawnie, and told her about the new living arrangements. She was thrilled. Let out one of those shrieks that makes your ears bleed, jumping up and down.”

She raised her face to his for a kiss, and he was more than happy to oblige. He was hesitant at first, and grew bolder as the moments ticked by, finally deepening the kiss to the passionate busses she had come to expect from him.

When he finally let her go, she was breathless. Desire raged through her, and she raked shaking fingers through her hair, so carefully styled only an hour before, now in a state of disarray. “God, Spike, the things you do….”

He grinned down at her, that cocky grin that always made her throb. “Just doing my duty as official boyfriend, sweetings.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” She grinned back at him, and said, “Spike, I told Dawn that we would train her, sometimes let her patrol with us. Is that all right?”

“Why not, pet? Nibblet needs training, it would keep her out of trouble, and if she can dust a vamp and kill a demon, then surely she can protect herself from all the nasties that roam Sunnyhell at night, right? I think it’s a right fine idea.”

“Good. I told her that you would help.”

He looked down at her, skepticism dulling his eyes. “Why me?”

“She trusts you. She respects you, more than she does me. Plus, big factor. You’ve already been training her, haven’t you?”

He looked at the floor, a sheepish expression on his face. “Didn’t want her roaming the streets without a little self-defense training under her belt. And you know she’ll get out, you always did.”

“I know. Anyway, Will’s packing and crying, and I haven’t heard anything from the rest of the gang yet. I probably will, though. Giles and Willow are leaving in two days.”

“We need to throw them a party, love. Send them off to the motherland in the right way.”

“A party! That’s perfect. A cookout in the back yard.” She saw his look, and smiled, adding, “well, late in the afternoon, and at sunset. To accommodate the sunlight challenged.”

“Hey! I could take offense at that.”

“I know, baby, but you won’t.” She picked up the suitcase and one of the boxes. “Can you get the rest?”

“Could have gotten all of it, Buffy. No need….”

“Right, no need. Let’s get this stuff to my house, then go kill something.”

They chatted as they walked, comfortable with each other for once. There was a lull in the conversation, and she took that moment to bring up a very sore subject.

“Spike, sweetheart, you do realize that I will have to make a trip to LA in the next couple of days.”

He was silent, but the vibes that radiated from him wasn’t anger or pain. “Knew that was coming. You have to go talk to the Poof, don’t you?”

She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he understood. “Yeah. I don’t want him coming back here and thinking that I’m still sitting around waiting for him. I’m not the girl that fell in love with him, and—well, you saw what he was like when I was dating Riley.”

“That wanker. Yeah, Peaches came and threw a his weight around, didn’t he?”

“He tried. He failed. I told him then, but this time, I think I need to make it a clean break. We both have gone on with our lives without the other. He can’t keep running back here to keep tabs on me. Besides, I don’t want him to. If I wanted that, I would have Daddy check on me and Dawnie.”

“Have you heard anything from your da?”

“No, thank God. I’ve been trying to keep from dealing with all that. When mom died, he was in Spain with his latest fling. So, no daddy stuff for me.”

“He still needs to do his duty as a father. You shouldn’t let him off so easy, pet.”

“I know. But not having him in my life is working out better than having him there. I used to wish that things could have worked out, and he would be a real dad. The last time I went to LA to stay with him, he was gone and I was shopping almost the whole time.”

They turned toward the house, and Spike raised his eyes to the front windows. “Who’s the girl?”

Buffy looked up, and saw the girl he was looking at. “Don’t know. Come on, let’s get in there and go find out.”

They carried the boxes up the stairs and put them in Buffy’s room, then Buffy tapped on the door to Will’s room. “Willow?” She opened the door slowly, and saw Amy sitting in the middle of the bed, a frightened look on her face. “Amy, hi. How have you been?”

“Rat, you?”

“Dead. Willow, what happened?”

“I-I was packing, and I didn’t want to leave Amy here. I started to clean her cage, and while I had her out on the bed, I thought I would check and see if I could metamorph her back. And I did Buffy! I could do it.” Buffy could see how nervous Willow was, and did the only thing she could.

“Spike!”

He poked his head around the doorframe, and Buffy sent him a silent apology with her eyes. “Can you take Amy downstairs and help her find something to eat?”

“Oh, yes, that sounds great. Something to eat. Anything that isn’t cheese flavored.”

Their voices drifted back to them as they left. Buffy closed the door behind them, and said, “Willow Rosenberg, no more magic. Not in this house. Understand?”

Willow looked like she was going to cry. “I’m sorry, Buffy—I know I shouldn’t have. I just…couldn’t help myself.” She buried her face in her hands, and started to cry.

Buffy was resolved that the Willow pity party would not last long this time. “How did your meeting with Tara go?”

Willow brushed her tears away, and her voice shook imperceptibly when she finally was able to answer. “She still loves me. She said she would wait. She just wants me to get better.”

“We all do, Will. Now, you need to pack. I’ll go down and see how Spike and Amy are doing.”

She quickly left the room, and made her way downstairs. Amy and Spike were at the island in the kitchen, and Amy was telling some story about being a rat for so long. She heard Spike say, “Never met anyone who was a rat. Some bloke turned Giles into a Fyarl demon once, now that was a sight, but I thought with transmogrification spells, the mass of the object stayed the same.”

“You know magic? Are you a warlock?”

“No, he’s a vampire.” They both looked at Buffy, who had noticed Amy touching her lover’s hand. “And he’s mine,” she growled.

Amy drew her hand back quickly, and looked nervously at the man across the counter from her. “Vampire, huh?”

“I prefer the phrase sunlight challenged.”

Buffy couldn’t suppress a giggle. “PC terms for the creatures of the night. How—interesting. You ready for patrol, baby?”

“Certainly, pet. Amy, until later?”

She looked nervous again. “Uh, I think that I need to go home. Haven’t been there in—has it really been three years?”

“Yeah. It’s been three years. You know, in all fairness to Will, she tried several times to get you back. She just didn’t have the power to do it. Until recently.”

“Yeah, she told me. She also said she was heading to England?”

“To learn control and balance. Some of the stuff she tries—Amy, it’s almost scary.”

“’S what she said. Well, I’ll see you guys later, then.” Her belly full, Amy headed back upstairs to talk to Willow. Buffy watched her leave, a worried look on her face. “I don’t like this, Spike. We need to keep an eye on those two until Willow finally gets gone.”

“I agree, love. Did you see her face when you talked about Red’s power? Too interested.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist. “God, I love this. Come on. Let’s go slay.”