What A Girl Wants

Chapter 10—Dancing With Danger

The back yard was gorgeous by the time they finished with it. Fairy lights wound through the branches of the trees and bushes, torches lined the path to the main barbecue area, and there were streamers wound through the fences, dangling from the trees, and draped anywhere that Buffy could find to drape them.

She looked at Spike, who was climbing down from one of the taller trees. “Do you think we need more?”

“More what, love? There’s no room to fit any more in.”

“More lights, Spike. There’s the back porch….”

“Love, enough for tonight. I’m gonna have a hell of a time getting tree sap out of my clothes.”

“I’ll take care of it.” She wrapped her arms around him, and snuggled close to him. “Come on, we both need a shower.”

He quirked his eyebrow at the seductive sway of her hips as she moved toward the house, then looked over her shoulder to see if he was watching her.

He took off at a dead run, eager to catch up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The day dawned bright and beautiful, and promised to stay that way.

Buffy stretched then snuggled next to the naked vampire sleeping next to her. She wondered what he would say if she told him that he actually snored sometimes, then shook her head, amused.

She mentally went over the tasks for the day, and came up with the conclusion that she could sleep for a couple more hours. Xander was already there; she could hear him humming in the yard, setting up the barbecue pit. He could take the food delivery, maybe even the liquor delivery, if she was still asleep.

There was a gnawing dread in her stomach. She knew that she shouldn’t ignore it, but things were turning out so well, she didn’t want to spoil the day. Or the party tonight.

Curling herself against him, she rooted closer to Spike, and let her mind drift, falling back to sleep in minutes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Spike! William! Will you get up?”

“Been up for an hour, watching you primp. Very nice undies, baby.”

She looked over her shoulder at the lazy vampire. “You can take them off me later. Go, get in the shower. And leave your hair curly tonight, you know I like it like that.”

Grumbling, he dragged himself from her bed, leaving her heavenly essences behind, and stepped out into the hallway. And came face to face with Willow and Tara. They let out a shriek and covered their eyes, and he jumped back into Buffy’s room, slamming the door behind them.

“That’s what you get for not using your robe. Come on, now, get going. Our guests will be here in an hour.”

“Not guests. As much as they’re here, they ought to pay rent.”

He snatched the robe from the back of the door, belted it in place, and opened the door, where Willow and Tara still stood. “Sorry, birds. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

They gawked at him, silent. Spike, apologizing?

As soon as the bathroom door closed behind him, they jumped on Buffy, giggling. “We saw Spike’s spike,” Willow giggled.

“That was…impressive.”

Buffy turned to them, grinning. “I know. And the things he can do with it….”

“TMI—TMI!” Both girls covered their ears, although Buffy wasn’t going to share any more info. If they wanted to know, let them get their own vampire.

“Go get ready. Do I have to police everyone around here today?”

The girls left, and Dawn popped her head in. “The liquor’s here. They need someone of drinking age to sign for it. That wouldn’t be me.”

“’Kay. Be right down.” Buffy slipped her robe on, and headed down the stairs. She signed for the alcohol, then looked to see how much alcohol there actually was.

Cases. Cases of tequila, cases of whiskey, cases of beer—who was partying here, all of the hair bands from the eighties? No, Spike. She pressed her lips together. Spike ordered all this. She poked around, even finding vodka, rum, and a couple of cases of mixers. In an open-topped box were a variety of liqueurs and cordials.

She walked through the new liquor storeroom in the dining room to the kitchen. Wrapped packages of meat lay on the counter. Enough vegetables to start their own restaurant or roadside stand were on the island. She opened the refrigerator door, and all she saw was mountains and mountains of food.

Buffy climbed the stairs, shaking her head. She had seen bars that weren’t as well stocked as her house. Oh, well, she thought. It’s a little thing. Not a biggie. No fighting unless it’s a biggie. Anyway, he would probably drink all that garbage. Drinking and Buffy were un-mixy things. She talked too much, got too uninhibited, and threw up too much afterward.

Spike was in the bedroom, toweling off, when she reentered. “Overboard much, baby?”

“What?” he said, looking over his shoulder. She paused to admire the taper of his shoulders to his tight, muscular ass, and said, “The alcohol is here. So is the food. So, what army are we feeding and getting drunk?”

He had the grace to look embarrassed. “My girls deserve the best, and they’re gonna get it. Don’t want you worrying anymore is all.”

She walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You don’t know how much I love you, do you? I love you, so very much.”

They were locked in a deep, soul-searching kiss when Dawn opened the door. “My eyes! My eyes!” she said from the doorway.

Buffy turned. “If you would learn to knock. And I was standing in front of him anyway. You couldn’t have seen anything.”

“I didn’t. It’s just a game that me and Spike play.” Dawn grinned, and Buffy gave her a pointed look. “Oh, I wanted to tell you that some of the guests have arrived.”

“Okay, Bit. We’ll be down in a minute.”

They both heard her muttering through the doorway. “Not if you’re gonna do it. Takes you guys all night, and then nobody gets any sleep.”

Buffy turned back to Spike. “Okay, you talk to Xander tonight about soundproofing, and I’ll ask Tara for a sound-dampening spell. Let’s get dressed.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They actually made it downstairs in record time, and went into the back yard.

Xander was standing over the barbecue pit, cursing and spluttering. The iceman must have come, because there were tubs of ice everywhere, with soft drinks and beer cooling in them. An assortment of liquor was lined up with sodas and a variety of mixers, over on one of the long tables, and Willow and Tara were there, mixing themselves a drink. Dawn was trying to convince them to let her have one too, but Buffy could tell by the stern look on the witches’ faces that she wouldn’t have to intervene there.

She heard a noise behind her, and Giles was there, with two of the invited guests in tow, holding them by the scruff of their necks.

“I found these two outside, arguing. Do you know them, Buffy?”

“Actually, yeah, Giles. Jonathan, from Sunnydale High, and Andrew, Tucker’s brother. They’re both going with you to England tomorrow.”

“Are they? Pray tell, when were you going to inform me of this?”

“I am informing you. Now. Jonathan needs training, just like Willow does. He actually does have quite a bit of power, just needs some positive focus. Andrew—Giles, I want you to take him to the Watcher’s Council. Pull a few strings, get him some Watcher training.”

“Buffy! It takes years…”

“Not for me. Already spoke to Quentin. He’s expected.”

“I see.” Giles let the two boys go, then turned to Spike. “Good afternoon, Spike.”

“Hello, Rupert. Get you a Guinness?”

“That would be marvelous.” The two men walked away together, in the shady spots of the yard.

Buffy turned to two of the Evil Trio. “You know, I fully expect Warren will be here at some point. Stay on your toes.”

Jonathan started, “Oh, I don’t think….”

“Yes, he will. Trust me, guys. He’s not the nice guy you think. Now, go grab some snacks and drinks, and make nice with the others. I’ve got something I have to do.”

She went into the house, and picked up the phone. “Sunnydale Police?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The party was in full swing. Xander had managed to burn half of the meat, and leave the other half-raw, but other than that little tick, everyone was having a great time.

Except Buffy. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She didn’t wait much longer.

Warren appeared around the edge of the fence, taking in the sight of his nerdy friends having a good time with the Slayer and her bunch of freaks. Why were they there, anyway? He’d expected them to leave town, after they packed up their stuff and moved out of the basement yesterday. And what were they doing here, of all places? He was way cooler than they were, and they were here, with him on the outside again.

Rage fuelled his actions, and the moment Buffy was waiting for finally happened. He raised the gun, pointing it at her, insanity tingeing his voice with desperation. “You think that you could do that to me, and I would let you? You busted up my gang, ruined my life, and you think that you can do that, because you’re the Slayer?”

“No, Warren, I think I can do that because what you did, and what you were going to do—it’s wrong. Your friends knew that it was wrong. Lying, cheating, stealing, manipulating people—all wrong, Warren.”

“You—you bitch! I’ll show you—” He cocked the gun, his hand shaking. The crowd of people was frozen, and to her horror, Buffy saw that Tara was directly in the line of fire, as was Dawn and Willow.

Willow looked at the gun, where it was pointed, and at whom, and decided to make a move. “Immobile!” She shouted, extending her hand, and Warren froze, unable to move. The police officers came around the side of the house, and Buffy motioned to the statue at the edge of her back yard.

“There he is, officers. You’ll find everything you need at his house. Willow, you can let him go now.”

They all watched Warren as he was cuffed and escorted out of the yard. When it was all over, Buffy slumped into the chair behind her, and the tears finally fell.

Spike stepped over to her, and picked her up, hauling her into the house and up the stairs to their room. He looked at her closely, and finding no trauma, sat down to wait for the fallout.

When she finally stopped crying, Spike was still there, holding her securely in his lap, smoothing her hair.

She stayed there, secure in his arms, and he looked down at her pale face.

“So, you want to tell me who you are now, and what’s going on?” he asked.