SECTION 4 - YOU'RE THE ONE

When the cold wind blows
And the rain keeps tumbling down
And there's no one there
And the morning light shines on

You're the one to lend a hand
You're the one who understands
You're the one to comfort me
The keeper of my heart

(Clannad, Album - anam, Words and lyrics A. Brennan, Additional lyrics M. Brennan)




Chapter 4.08
Tuesday, May 14th, 2002

Even though he took the "scenic" route, Spike felt as if their trip to the ice-rink was far too short. Wes's Harley handled like a dream and Buffy's arms anchored her firmly against his back. If he gave way to impulse, he would just make for the coast road and open her up, never stopping until they ran out of gas or had to look for a bed for the day or night. With the orbs still in his coat pocket, not even daylight could stop him, but Spike wasn't one to welch on a debt and Buffy reckoned he owed her ice-skating. So, he pulled the Harley over into the rink's parking lot, pulling up next to the car that was the lot's only other occupant.

Buffy wasted no time taking off her helmet, but then she looked at the car and the light that was on over the side door.

"Somebody's here. Maybe we should just go."

"Fat lot of point me rentin' the place if you're goin' to chicken out on me now."

"You mean we're not breaking in?"

"Tut, tut. Would have thought that broke all the Buffy commandments. I think you're trying to corrupt me."

Buffy almost choked, she laughed so hard. "Me. corrupt William the Bloody? As if!" She looked up at the vampire's laughing face. "You really did rent the place, didn't you? Not just get one of your poker buddies to break in before we got here?"

"Oh ye of little faith. How well you know me, but, no, I didn't think of that one. I'll remember for next time though. Come on. Get your arse in gear. I'm payin' for this by the hour whether we're in there or not."

"So, how did you manage this? I didn't know you could hire this place out."

"You just have to know the right people, pet."

Spike held the side door open for Buffy, letting her enter first. "If we follow this round to the right we're supposed to get to the manager's office," Spike supplied as Buffy looked either way along a deserted corridor. Shrugging, Buffy headed to the right. Sure enough, they soon came to a door marked with the legend, "Manager's Office." Spike barged in without knocking, greeting the man inside as if he was an old acquaintance.

"Everything all set?" he asked as the pair shook hands, but not a formal handshake, one of those "boy's club" special handshakes with all the stops and whistles.

"I'll just stick the lights on for you now. Boots are in the crate there. Yours should be near the top." Spike pulled a thick envelope from the inside pocket of his coat and tossed it onto the desk. As the man moved to a control panel and flicked all the light switches, Buffy realised they were in a glass-fronted booth that overlooked the rink itself. The rink came to life as she watched, almost like magic. A vast net was suspended among the lights over the ice, filled with red and black balloons.

"Are we expecting some sort of party?"

"Local hockey team," the manager supplied. "Big match at the weekend or something."

Spike managed to pick up the topmost pair of boots and check their size before, Buffy pulled him away in search of a path to the ice. "See you later, Stu," Spike shouted as he was dragged off.

"Just follow the corridor on round. It'll bring you out opposite the stairs down to the ice," the man called, as he watched the vampire being dragged off by a girl about half his size. Ripping open the envelope, he pocketed the money inside and pulled out a couple of audio tapes. Taking the one that had a large "1" on the label he slotted it into one of the PA system's decks and waited for the girl to make her way on the ice before he set it in motion.

 

Buffy figured it must be the amount of practice Spike had at getting in and out of Doc Marten's that let him get his boots on first. Leaving his precious duster draped over the front row of bleachers, he had completed a half circuit of the ice before she was ready. She should have known Spike's skating style would owe more to hockey than figure skating, but as he approached his starting point again he relaxed into a more upright stance and glided to a halt before her, one hand outstretched.

"Care to dance, slayer?"

"Are you sure dancing's what you're planning? You looked more like you were short a puck and a stick before."

"Trust me."

Buffy took his hand and let him draw her onto the ice. As soon as she stepped out to the ice atmospheric chords welled up to fill the silence accompanied by a crystal clear voice. Buffy couldn't understand a single word, but she couldn't help but appreciate the music's beauty.

Spike drew her into his arms and together they took the first steps of a very long dance that neither of them wanted to end. Just as when they fought, they moved intuitively together. Buffy felt like every fairy tale princess she'd ever seen in all those years of icecapades. Okay, maybe more inclined toward Beauty than any of the others. Then and there, she wouldn't have changed her "Beast" for all the princes in the fairy tale world. One track blended seamlessly into the next and time flew by unnoticed by either of the pair, until the tannoy crackled into life.

"Well, check out Brian Boitano."

Buffy looked over to the booth, surprised to see her sister, her two best friends, their partners and Wesley watching them along with Lori, Clem and all his family. Spike took advantage of her distraction to give Xander a two-fingered salute. His experience of Brian Boitano was limited to having seen the South Park movie, but he knew an insult when he heard one, mostly whenever Xander opened his mouth in his direction.

"We're havin' a party?" Buffy asked.

"Well, it seemed kind of selfish keepin' this whole place to ourselves for much more than an hour."

On cue the music changed to Pink. "I'm comin' up, so you better get this party started." And then there was a loud bang and the air around the couple was filled with swirls of red and black. Balloons floated down along with streamers and glitter. Spike looked round in surprise.

"I think somebody leaned on the wrong button."

"This is all sort of surreal. Any minute now Snoopy is going to pop out from between the bleachers and start doing his happy dance or someone's going to offer me cheese."

"Nah, not if Harris sees them first. There'd be none left."

The group started to file out of the office. "How long did it take to get from his office to here?" Buffy asked.

"'Bout half a minute. Why? You planning on givin' 'em a game of hide and seek?" Spike's gaze flicked from Buffy's eyes to her lips and back again.

"Nope. Just wanted to know how long I could spend on the first instalment of showing you how grateful I am."

"So how grateful are you?"

Buffy closed the distance between them, sliding her arms around his waist so that their position was as stable as possible. She tilted her head back so that her lips almost touched his as she answered. "Very."

The chill of his lips as they met hers surprised her at first, and she briefly pulled away.

Her eyes sparkled with laughter as she teased him. "Say, you've never actually been so cold that you've stuck to anyone, have you? I wouldn't want to be left-."

Any further words she might have said were lost as Spike provided evidence that he wasn't about to stick to her, or at least not any more than usual. The embrace was short-lived, however, the squeak of the door between the private and public sections of the rink betraying the imminent arrival of their friends.

Wes was first to reach the barrier. He held up Spike's bike keys. "I believe you have something of mine."

Spike gestured with his chin toward the bench where his coat lay. "Right pocket."

"I think under the circumstances I'll wait till tomorrow to reclaim them. That way you'll have a chance to fill it up. Besides it wouldn't do to make Buffy ride home from your engagement party on that thing."

"Engagement party?" Spike asked. "It was just meant to be a chance for Bit an' the Bite Size an' all to have a bit of a laugh."

"Stop complaining. Engagement party means presents. Right?" Buffy accompanied her words with a sharp elbow in the ribs. The Scooby girls all gathered around Xander as he tried to make his way down the steps to the level of the rink, carrying a gift-wrapped box so big he couldn't see his feet. He almost slipped as Rosa ducked beneath his arms as she ran down the steps.

"Unker Will, Unker Will. The man let me press the button to let out all the balloons." Spike scooped the girl up in his arms before she could slip on the ice.

"So that was you, was it? I thought Xander had sat on the button by mistake."

"That's silly." The little girl was all tripped out in her party best. Her hair hung loose about her face and Buffy's heart ached as she watched them both together, knowing that he would have made such a good father, if fate had been kinder. But then, slayers didn't exactly make for the ideal mother award either, so perhaps it was just as well. Some things just weren't meant to be. Buffy would take Spike and their rather strange extended family over the suburban dream any day.