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Been Here Too Few Years	By : addielogan Category: > Buffy/Spike(William) > Buffy/Spike(William) Views: 18659 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 24
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Buffy noticed as she came down the stairs
with Spike that Giles appeared just as bleary eyed as they were. Dawn seemed to
have claimed all the possible excitement in the room for herself as she all but
started bouncing like Tigger around the Christmas tree.
"Did you let her have cookies for
breakfast?" Buffy asked Giles, her hands on her hips. "Cause you know
what that much frosting does to her this early in the morning."
"I didn't let her do
anything," Giles replied. "She'd already gotten into them before I
awoke."
"I was hyper before I ate any cookies," Dawn said. "And why shouldn't
I be, huh? It's Christmas morning. �You guys are just all old and cranky."
"I am not old or cranky. I'm simply a firm believer in the theory that Christmas
presents are just as fun to open later in the day as they are first thing in
the morning," Buffy argued. She glanced around the living room, then swallowed before she asked the question she wasn't
completely sure she really wanted to ask. "Where's Mom?"
She knew the answer was going to be
somewhere in the ballpark of what she was expecting when Giles began to clean
his glasses. "Joyce isn't feeling well this morning. She's insisted that
we start without her."
"Too hung over for Christmas,"
Buffy said. "And yet, I'm a disappointment. Go figure."
"Buffy, you're not�"
Buffy held up her hand to cut Giles off.
"Let's not, okay? It's Christmas, so let's just focus on happy things�like
giving Dawn presents so she stops shaking."
"I like that idea!" Dawn said.
"Yes, well�" Giles stopped, his
eyes going to the hand that Buffy had brought up when she'd silenced him.
"New ring?" he asked, his eyebrow going up as he spoke.
Buffy and Spike looked at each other for a
moment before Spike started to speak. "I�I gave it to her last night.
I�"
"You don't have to explain, son,"
Giles said. "To be honest, I'm relieved to see it on Buffy. I was always a
bit worried that you'd given it to that Drusilla woman."
Spike shook his head. "I didn't give it
to Dru. It never�it never felt right."
Dawn glanced around at the three other
people in the room. "What's up with the ring?"
"It was my mum's," Spike answered.
"I gave it to Buffy last night."
"Can I see it?" Dawn asked,
calming slightly.
"Yeah," Buffy replied. She held
out her hand towards her sister.
Dawn took Buffy's hand and peered at the
ring. She ran her finger down the emerald. "It's really pretty."
"I thought so, too," Buffy said.
She turned and smiled at Spike, warming at the way he smiled back at her. He
could pour so much love into just a look.
Dawn pulled back, the momentary distraction
of the ring worn off. "Okay, can I open something now, please? I've been
waiting a whole year!"
Giles reached out and squeezed Dawn's
shoulder. "Go ahead, my dear. You've been patient long enough."
With a squeal, Dawn went to the tree.

***
*** ***
Several hours later, the living room was
cluttered with scraps of wrapping paper and bows, but Joyce had still not made
an appearance. Her presents sat alone under the tree, making her absence seem
even more glaring.
It was also apparent that the Christmas
dinner that was usually Joyce's undertaking was not going to cook itself.
Buffy sat on the couch, her lip caught
between her teeth as she tried to decide if she should offer to step up and
prepare the dinner in her mother's stead. She knew they'd have to eat at some
point, and all the restaurants in town would be closed. But she was also far
from the best cook in the world. Not terrible the way her sister tended to
be�Buffy still cringed to think of the peanut butter and banana quesadillas
Dawn had tried to thrust on her once�but she wasn't half the cook her mother
was.
She felt Spike's hand stroke the back of her
hair as he asked her, "What's wrong, luv?"
"My mom always does a big Christmas
dinner thing," she told him. "Dawn and I would help her with stuff.
Well, mainly me, cause Dawn�she burns water. But my mom would do most of it,
and then we'd all sit down and have a family meal together, but this
year�"
"She's not even coming out of the
bedroom?"
Buffy nodded. "I don't know what to do.
She's supposed to be here, doing all the mom things, because it's Christmas, and�"
Before Buffy could stop her tears, they were falling, and she turned towards
Spike and cried against his shoulder.
Spike wrapped his arms around Buffy, letting
her cry for a few moments. Finally, he pulled away and caught her chin in his
hand to tilt it up. "What do you usually have for Christmas dinner?"
"Turkey," Buffy said. "It's
already been bought, but it's gotta go in soon, I know, because it takes a
while, but I don't know how to cook a turkey, and�"
"Shh. It's okay, pet. I know how to
cook a turkey. I'm sure between the two of us we can do it almost as good as
your mum, yeah?"
Buffy looked at Spike with hope in her eyes.
"You really think we can?"
"'Course." Spike tucked Buffy's
hair behind her ear and smiled at her. "You already know that I can find
my way around a kitchen, and you know what needs to be cooked. We'll be
fine."
Buffy threw her arms around Spike and
squeezed him tight. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too. Now let's go get that
bird in the oven."

***
*** ***
Buffy was pleased to discover that cooking with
Spike was even more fun than watching him cook on his own. She still got to
check him out, but then there were added bonuses, like the way he came up
behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist while she stirred the mashed
potatoes. Buffy smiled just thinking about that. It had to be the sexiest
cooking she'd ever taken part in, and they'd stayed clothed the entire time.
Visually, at least, the meal had turned out
well. They hadn't actually sat down to eat it yet, but Buffy felt confident
that no one would be spitting it out in their napkins. Spike had been telling
the truth when he'd said he could cook a turkey, and he'd known what to do with
the other things as well. Nothing was burnt or looked like something that could
qualify as an alien life form, both characteristics of what Buffy felt like was
culinary success.
With dinner on the table and her family
sitting down to eat, Buffy felt better. That is, until her mother finally
decided to come out of her bedroom and join them.
A silence fell on the room when Joyce walked
in, and she didn't offer any words to break it. She simply sat down beside her
husband, her gaze never hitting Buffy or Spike.
Buffy reached under the table and squeezed
Spike's hand as she fought the urge to cry again. They'd worked so hard on
dinner, and now with just her presence, Joyce was ruining it all. Buffy didn't
understand why her mother couldn't just put it all behind her for just one day
and let them have a happy Christmas. Was it really so much to ask that her
mother be as much as civil?
Buffy supposed it could've been a good sign
that Joyce had joined them, had she not been so cold. She seemed to be using
the meal as a forum to express her displeasure, her silence and sour expression
serving to put a damper on any festivities.
Giles was the first to speak after the
silence that accompanied Joyce's entrance. He cleared his throat and said,
"Buffy, Spike, this really is a lovely dinner the two of you have made. It
was good of you to do this."
"Yeah, 'cause if it had been left up to
me and Giles, we'd be eating something nasty," Dawn added.
Giles gave her a look. "There is
nothing wrong with my cooking," he insisted.
"Yes there is," Dawn replied.
"It's all British."
"You say that like it's a bad thing,
bit," Spike said, his eyebrow raised.
"It is when it comes to food,"
Dawn said. "Like blood pudding. Yech."
"Have you even ever had blood
pudding?" Spike asked.
"Um, no. Like I need more than that
name to tell me it's disgusting." Dawn shivered. "And blood sausage,
too. What is it with you British people and cooking with blood? Are you all
like secretly vampires?" Her eyes widened. "Ooh, and you're all
really pale, too! Is that why London is cloudy all the time�so you don't like
burst into flames?"
Spike somehow managed to look both annoyed
and amused at the same time. "Shut your gob and eat your turkey."
"And what's a gob?" Dawn asked,
her mouth twitching up. "Is that even a word?"
Spike sighed. "Both of you Summers
sisters in on me about perfectly fine words. Just what I bloody need."
"He's fun to tease," Dawn said
with a giggle.
"Isn't he, though?" Buffy agreed.
She reached up and ruffled Spike's hair. "He's so cute when he's all
irritated."
"Buffy, I'd appreciate a little
restraint from you at the dinner table," Joyce snapped, drawing the
attention of the room back to her. "It's bad enough whatever the two of
you are doing in private, but to flaunt it here like it's anything but disgusting
is more than I'm going to tolerate."
Buffy pulled herself up straight. "What
Spike and I have is not disgusting. I love him and he loves me."
"Buffy, he's your brother!"
Joyce exclaimed.
"No, he isn't!" Buffy replied.
"God, Mom, just get over this! Yes, you and Giles are married, but that
doesn't make me related to Spike. It's not like I'm having an affair with
Dawn!"
"Yeah, that would be ew,"
Dawn muttered. "Like on more than one level, considering I'm underage and
stuff." Joyce shot Dawn a look and the teen immediately grew silent again.
"I don't know what's wrong with you,
Buffy that you can't see what you're doing," Joyce said, her attention
back on her older daughter. "Do you want to spite me, is that it? Did you
figure you hadn't upset me enough with Angel, you'd find an even more wrong
relationship to get into?"
"Don't you dare bring Angel into
this," Buffy snarled, the vehemence in her tone making Joyce pull back for
a moment. "He may have been older than me, yes, but he also died
for me, and I will not sit here and let you badmouth him, especially after
everything you put the two of us through. And my relationship with Spike has
absolutely nothing to do with you.
I'm with him because I love him, because he makes me feel something I didn't
even think I could feel anymore. I was dying inside, and Spike saved me. He
showed me how to feel alive again. And if you can't be happy that I've found
someone who means to me what Spike does, then you are the biggest, most
unfeeling bitch I have ever met."
Joyce sucked in a breath, her head pulling
up. "I don't want the two of you here anymore. Christmas is over, and I want you to be on the
soonest flight you can get out of here. Whatever it costs to trade in your
tickets for something sooner, I'll pay for, but I don't want to have to spend
any more time with this going on under my roof. You might not see it
now, Buffy, but someday, you'll see how right I've been, and you'll hate
yourself for the choices you've made."
Buffy didn't flinch. "Loving Spike is
never something I could hate myself for. He's�he's my soulmate."
The look on Joyce's face was something akin
to disgust. "Oh, Buffy, listen to yourself. Soulmate? Grow up and
face reality."
"I have," Buffy replied. "You
want us out of here, fine. We'll be on the next plane out. But I'm telling you
now that I will never, ever speak to you again after this. I came here
trying to put the past behind me, and all you've done is spit in my face for
it. I don't know what sort of problems you're going through, but I'm not going
to deal with them anymore. You want to talk about bad choices? You live with
the one where you lost your daughter."
Joyce stood and pushed her chair under the
table. "Rupert, make sure they get their tickets taken care of. I'm done
here."
The room fell silent again as Joyce stormed
out until Dawn finally spoke. "At least the dinner's good."
Buffy laughed softly, though the pain in her
eyes was still there. "So it's not a total bust then."
Giles reached across the table and put his
hand on top of Buffy's. "Whatever happens, I'm here�for both of you. You
may not be siblings, but you are both my children�in my heart at least."
"Thank you, Giles," Buffy replied.
"It's nice to know I still have family."
"You do," Dawn said. "I mean,
Mom's a loon apparently, but we still love you. And if you want to get
all hot and sweaty with Spike, that's your pergative."
Giles took off his glasses and pinched the
bridge of his nose. "That's prerogative, Dawn,
and please, keep the mental imagery down to a minimum."
"Whatever," Dawn said with a
shrug.
"You don't have to leave, if you don't
want to," Giles said as he turned his attention away from Dawn and back to
Spike and Buffy.
"I know," Buffy replied. "And
I appreciate it. But I think it's for the best. There's just too much stress
here with her being like this. I can't�I can't do it anymore."
"I understand," Giles told her.
"You and Dawn will have to come visit
us in New York," Spike offered. "There's lots of shopping for her and
museums for you. You'd both have a great time."
"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "You
guys totally should."
Giles smiled and replaced his glasses on his
nose. "Then we will."

***
*** ***
That one came out sooner than I was
expecting, so there's actually two posts for this fic that aren't like a month
apart. First time for everything, I suppose! Please remember to review.
- 24
- 25
- 26
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Been Here Too Few Years