Making Up Is Hard To Do


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The anger came later. After they had spent a good half hour reacquainting themselves with the taste of each other, it suddenly returned in a flash. She shoved the vampire away and glared at him as he stumbled back, giving her an astonished look. Before he could even open his mouth to speak, she was pointing at him angrily, eyes narrowed.

“You are such a… an idiot! Why didn’t you tell me you were back?!” she exclaimed.

“Told you, got sidetracked.”

“That’s a lame excuse, Spike. You claim to still love me but you don’t think I’d want to know that you were alive.”

“I’m not alive,” he answered with a little smile and she gritted her teeth. He thought he was so cute.

“I’m not playing now,” she replied tautly, still pointing at him. He smiled though and moved towards her again, reaching out to encircle her in his arms.

“No,” she ground out, taking a step back before he could reach her, “You’re not just going to kiss me and make me forget this. Do you have any idea what I went through?!”

His expression turned serious then and he stopped in his advance.

“What did you go through, pet?”

“Oh no, don’t think I’m gonna stroke your ego by telling you how miserable I was thinking you were dead.”

She took a deep breath and started again, calmer this time.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Spike? It could have saved us both a lot of heartache.”



He was silent for a long moment as he ran a hand through his hair, but then he caught her gaze again and spoke.

“Was scared, alright.”

“Scared?” she repeated, softening slightly.

“Yes. Scared. I went out in a blaze of glory, Buffy. Hero’s death and all that. How was I supposed to come back to you after that?”

Oh God, him and his ego. She almost wanted to strangle him.

“You think I’d care? Do you know how many times I dreamed that you’d come back?”

She fell silent, once again struggling to restrain her emotions. He stepped forward now and this time she didn’t stop him as he pulled her into his embrace, strong arms lacing around her.

“Didn’t think you cared,” he murmured against her hair.

“You just said you believed me back in Sunnydale!” she exclaimed, pulling back to look at him.

“Wanted to, really did…” he trailed off awkwardly, eyes avoiding hers, “But then Angel said I should just let you be happy.”

“Angel!” she burst out, pushing him away again, arms crossing over her chest angrily, “Angel told you to stay away… and you did! Since when did you listen to him?!”

Oh, she was really angry now. It was only with supreme effort that she was stopping herself from lashing out at him.

“How could you be so stupid?!”

He at least looked ashamed and his eyes rose to hers hesitantly.

“Just wanted you to be happy, Buffy. And then when I came to Rome and found you with The Immortal… well, seemed like it was all for the best.”

“You weren’t even going to try and fight for me?” she asked sadly.

“Know what The Immortal’s like, love. Managed to take Dru from me once… didn’t reckon he’d lost any of his charm over a century.”



She sighed and turned from him, hardly knowing whether to be angry with him or whether to kiss the ridiculous thoughts from his head. She turned back to him with a soft smile and saw him watching her warily, no doubt waiting for another angry reaction. Instead, she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him once again, resting her head against his shoulder.

“I don’t want to fight anymore,” she murmured, “It’s been too long and I don’t want to waste time arguing.”

She heard him chuckle and his arms wrapped around her, holding her close against him.

“You’ve definitely changed your tune, Slayer.”

“You better believe it, mister. Although I’m still going to kick your ass… just as soon as I get my fill of being with you again.”

He chuckled again and raised a hand to her chin, tilting her face towards his.

“Look forward to it, darling. Haven’t had a good fight in too long.”

She narrowed her eyes at him but then they fluttered closed as his lips met hers again. She wasn’t sure how she had gone long months without kissing him in Sunnydale. It had certainly been on her mind, but all that bad history and the weight of his soul had held her back. Now, she couldn’t care less – she was just too happy to see him to stop kissing him, touching him, holding him close.



It was then that Willow decided to make her return and she let out a little surprised ‘eep’ as she caught them. They parted embarrassedly but when Buffy finally looked at her friend, she was grinning.

“So, you skipped the arguing and just went straight to the making up?” she teased and Buffy laughed.

“Something like that.”

“Guess you’ll be wanting somewhere to stay then,” she commented, “Unless you’re running away together into the sunset or something like that?”

Buffy smiled and reached out to twine her fingers in the vampire’s.

“A room would be good.”

Willow nodded and then smiled cheekily.

“Just remember this place is full of young, impressionable girls, okay?”

“Willow!” she protested, even as Spike laughed.

By this time, they had joined Willow at the door and vampire and witch took a moment to size each other up.

“You’re blooming, Red. Getting out of Sunnydale’s done you good.”

“Thanks. You- you too,” she stuttered, blushing slightly.

With another smile at Buffy, she then ushered them out of the room and along the long corridors until they reached one of the bedrooms. Leaving them with another comment about keeping the noise down and a grin, Willow disappeared along the corridor and they went into the room together.



With their hands twined, they moved to sit on the bed and she turned to him, releasing his hand to run her fingers over his arm.

“I still can hardly believe you’re here,” she whispered, “You were gone and now… I feel like I must be dreaming.”

“Know the feeling well, love, trust me.”

They shared a smile and then she couldn’t help but yawn, a combination of jetlag, lack of sleep and emotional exertion making her suddenly exhausted.

“You need to rest,” Spike commented, brushing a hand over her hair.

“Don’t want to sleep,” she answered sleepily, even as she kicked off her boots, “I might wake up and you’ll be gone.”

“That’s your thing, love, not mine.”

She winced and he grimaced, reaching out to take her hand.

“Sorry, love.”

“No, you’re right. I… I’m sorry about earlier. I just had to get away.”

“Leaving the city was a bit drastic though, wasn’t it?” he asked with a smile.

“I guess so,” she admitted, smiling back softly.

She could just bask in this, she thought. Sitting here with Spike, laughing, joking, his hand in hers. Another yawn pulled her out of her thoughts and with a sheepish smile, she scooted back on the bed, curling up against the pillows.

“Spike?”

“Yeah.”

“Will you hold me?”

He said nothing but smiled softly, throwing off his jacket and boots and moving to her side. He settled beside her and pulled her into his arms and she let out a sigh of content, letting herself relax in the arms of the man she had so nearly lost for a second time.


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Originally, I was going to end it there... but then I added a couple chapters of fluff to counterbalance all that angst! :-)