Anya's tears had tailed off now, and Spike's hands traced
gentle caresses over her face. He placed a gentle kiss on her brow and
she wrapped her arms around him under cover of a layer of black leather,
drawing physical and emotional support from the vampire's strength.
He spoke softly into her blonde curls, inhaling the green-apple
scent of her shampoo. "They don't have the guts to follow their hearts...
I wish they did, but they don't... They spend so much time being scared
of everything that could go wrong that they won't let anything go right."
Anya ducked her head until her face was hidden between
his chest and his duster. "Done," she whispered so quietly even Spike
remained oblivious. A wave of surprise travelled through her as she realised
who the second recipient of her efforts was. She reflexively raised her
head, looking into Spike's eyes, even as she admitted that on a certain
level she had known the truth all along.
His forehead came to rest against hers and they stood
in their own private world for minutes, each simply taking comfort from
the other's closeness before the jostling crowd caused the vamp to guide
Anya from the dance-floor.
"Come on, kitten. I'll walk you back to wherever you're
staying before I go back to my place. A morsel as pretty as you's bound
to run into trouble walking home alone after dark."
He paused to pick up the bag of candles from under the
table that they had previously occupied, and then moved sideways, breaking a
path through the club's patrons. He kept one arm draped protectively over
her shoulders and Anya's arm circled his waist, her thumb hooked through
the belt-loop on his jeans. Each was reluctant to lose the connection
engendered by the other's touch.
Buffy and Xander rose from their seats, moving around
the table to get the screen in view, just as Spike closed the gap between
him and Anya.
"What?" Buffy was the first to query Willow's shocked
expression, but the redhead was preoccupied with a belated attempt to
prevent Xander's approach.
"Wait, Xander, no..."
The young man, if anything, was hastened by her pleas
and stared at the screen as Spike kissed his former fiancée, a
desperate epithet falling from his lips at the sight. Buffy's look of
horror soon matched Xander's own and, after a quick glance at the brunette's
face, her gaze returned inexorably to the screen.
Around the monochrome pair the crowd gyrated and swayed
but the two stood statue still, oblivious to the seething motion around
them.
The front door crashed shut and Dawn slung her backpack
to the floor as she entered. "Hey guys, what's-" She, too, was drawn to
the screen. For a second a huge smile illuminated her face until she looked
across at Xander and it faded.
Willow glanced across at Buffy, hoping for guidance on
how to deal with Xander and became aware of the same devastated look on
her best friend's face. Microseconds later the younger Summers also noted
her expression and, putting it together with her remarks when she had been poisoned, drew her own conclusions.
Buffy's voice cut through the silence. "That's enough."
She headed off through the living room. After a quick glance passed between
the remaining females, Dawn followed her. The pair barely had time to start
a discussion when Willow caught up with them in the back yard.
"Buffy, Xander's gone... and he took a stake."
"Yeah. So? It's not like Spike can't—" Buffy's indignant
response stalled as she remembered that her former kick-ass patrol partner
had a major Achilles' heel. "Look after himself. Oh God. Does he have
the car? How much of a head start has he got?" Even as she framed
the questions, the blonde was off and running around the side of the house.
"No, and about a minute," Willow bounced on the balls
of her feet as she shouted back.
"Sheesh!" Dawn moved to watch over her shoulder and shook
her head. "And she says she broke up with him. 'D Like to see how fast
she could run if she was hung up on the guy."
"Love makes you do the wacky... well, um, not love, em,
well in Xander's case, then love but... I think I'll go back and see if
there are any more channels and then try to trace the source again."
Buffy caught up with Xander long before he got anywhere
near the Bronze. "Xander," she argued. "You've got to calm down. You're not going to
achieve anything by going after Spike."
"Other than an immense feeling of satisfaction, you mean?
The thing should have been staked years ago."
"You don't even know what you saw," the slayer reasoned. "Maybe he was just
comforting her. She's had a bit of a rough time lately and it's not like
we've... Well, the rest of us are all closer to you than to her."
"Yeah, and Captain Sarcasm's the guy who's always there
waiting when you're looking for a shoulder to cry on?" Xander asked facetiously. "And I don't think."
Buffy, at least, had the good grace to look uncomfortable but didn't interrupt.
"He kissed her... Twice. He's decided to cut his losses as far as his little
obsession with you's concerned. Now he's after her while she's vulnerable.
Well, you know what? He's not going to get her. This thing stops right
now."
"I still don't think you're right," Buffy demurred. "It's not like he had
his tongue down her throat or anything, is it? But, even if... Xander? You
left her at the altar. You can't do that and then go throw your weight
around like you've got some sort of claim."
"I can if I'm going to make it right between us," he argued.
"You what?"
"When I was watching them, you know at first I just felt
sick to my stomach. The whole thing just... eew. Then he kissed her and
she sort of snuggled her face in against his chest, and right then I just
had to do something about it," Xander explained. "I'm the only one I want her getting that
close to, and if the only way she'll have me back is if we get married,
then we're getting married. I mean, it's not like we don't love each other...
We do... And we'd been living together. That's pretty much like being married
except for a little bit of paper... And I know I ruined her big day, but,
if we just make it legal for now, we can always have a blessing done later when we've saved
up some more money."
"Wow," replied the slayer. "Big U turn."
"Yeah, well, I guess I got freaked about everything that
could go wrong," Xander admitted, looking slightly shame-faced, "but I've just got to make sure I don't let things happen
like that."
"So, were you planning on staking Spike before or after
the proposal?" Buffy asked with a teasing grin.
"Okay, maybe it wouldn't make the best impression," Xander grumbled, "but
if he's trying to take advantage of her, it won't stop me."
Buffy looked over at Xander. "Think you can cover both
of us in? I kind of left in a hurry and I don't have any money."
"Sure."
The pair scanned the bar but finally conceded that their
quarry had eluded them. Buffy, however, caught sight of a familiar face,
Willow's one-time history tutee. "Percy, I'm looking for someone," she said. "She was here about ten,
maybe fifteen minutes ago. Anya Jenkins? She was in our year?"
"Yeah, sweet lookin' chick," Percy responded before he became aware of Xander's
presence behind Buffy. "Seems I heard she got dumped even worse than Harris
that Valentine's day. Way harsh, dude," he added, his tone now one of disapproval. "She left with some guy."
Buffy turned to face Xander briefly, indicating with
frantic eye movements that Xander should back off. "Look, we just want
to be sure she's okay. The guy she left with... sort of white-blonde hair,
leather coat, that right?" Percy looked over to where Xander now stood,
a few feet away, before giving a brief nod.
"Did they look like they were together? I mean together
together?" Buffy asked with only the faintest waver in her voice.
Percy moved his head closer to Buffy's, pitching his
reply so that only she could hear. "Looked like more of a friends thing. They
had some food, couple of beers, danced a bit. Then, she got all upset.
Chick was cryin' her eyes out in the middle of the dance floor. He seemed
to get her calmed down and then they left. I'm not saying they weren't
together... I mean, I wasn't about to go ask for a dance while she was with
him, but..."
The jock looked over at Xander. "What's the deal with
him anyway? Dump her then stalk her?"
"Not really. He heard she was here with that guy and
he was worried about her." She gave him a sad sort of grateful smile. "Look... Thanks."
"Yeah, fine."
Buffy went over to where Xander leant against the bar.
"Percy reckons they weren't... you know... but we've pretty much missed them."
