Startled by Buffy's revelation, it took Lily a moment to find her voice. "Are you sure I died?"
"You sure looked dead--white as a sheet, blood everywhere, skin hanging on your bones, eyes staring. You weren't moving," Buffy babbled, obviously frightened by her vision.
Lily gently massaged Buffy's shoulder, trying to calm her. Her own mind whirled in confusion and just a little bit of fear. "It's okay, calm down...Shhh."
"It was horrible! You were just lying there in a pool of blood. Someone--a woman--was screaming." Buffy furrowed her brow, trying to remember. "Spike. Spike was chained to a tree. He was crying," she said in amazement.
"This does not look good," Lily murmured.
Buffy was even more amazed by Lily's calm demeanor. "You're going to die and that's all you can say?"
"We all die someday. Was that all?"
"Huh?" Buffy saw the recorder in Lily's hand. "Oh, yeah. God, you're cold."
Lily turned off the recorder and rose from the bed. "I'll see you tomorrow evening."
Buffy jumped out of bed and ran over to the door to block Lily's exit. "No. We need to talk about this."
"Buffy, if I die, I die. I'll do anything to prevent it, because if I die, I think Drusilla wins."
Buffy sighed in relief. "Good, I thought you were going all fatalistic on me."
"I never was a believer in predestination."
"Whatever. Look, I know you like to sleep during the day, but I think we need to work harder on finding more clues to what's going to happen. Can you go work with Giles in the Library tomorrow? You can cat nap in his office."
"And just how am I supposed to get there?"
"Oh, yeah, problem." She thought for a minute. "Solution. There are tunnels leading from Angel's to the basement under the stacks. If you go to his place right before dawn, he can take you there before school starts. The sun rarely gets very far into the Library and students never go in there."
"Odd...Okay, where does Angel live?"
Buffy gave Lily the directions then they bid each other good night.
*****
An hour before dawn, Lily snuck out of Buffy's house. She decided to leave her car behind and struck out for the main street. If she was going to be up all day, she needed to feed before she went to Angel's.
In a dark alley she found a sleeping vagrant. She hated to drink from these poor unfortunates, but sometimes she had no choice. In the hour before dawn in Sunnydale there didn't seem to be any crime going on, at least where she could find it. God, it certainly had been easier in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The vagrant was sleeping off an alcoholic binge, so Lily only took about a cup. Still, it made her tipsy. She had never held her alcohol well.
The sun was just beginning to rise when she reached Angel's building. Naturally, his apartment was in the basement and she knocked on the door. After a few minutes, the door opened. Angel stood there wearing only a pair of dark navy pajama pants, closed with a drawstring, riding low on his hips. He looked very sleepy.
"Sexy...," she purred, then giggled. "Oops."
Angel sighed, recognizing the signs of alcohol use, and tugged her into his apartment, closing the door behind them. "What are you doing here?"
"Oooh, my head's spinning. This town is dead at dawn! Didya know that? The only food I could find was drunk."
Angel guided her over to a chair and pushed her into it. "That's quite obvious." He went into the kitchen and opened the fridge.
Lily let her head fall back and stared at the shadows on the ceiling. "I'm going to die, you know," she announced.
Angel knelt down in front of her holding a bag of blood. "Okay."
Lily lifted her head up, blinking as her vision swam, then smiled at him. "Oh, are you giving me an offering of your eternal devotion?"
"You are a baaad drunk." He held the open bag to her lips. "Drink."
"I had dinner."
Angel's face took on a stern demeanor. "You need more to counteract the alcohol."
With unsteady hands Lily took the bag and began to drink. When it was empty, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and made a face. "Stale."
"Yet nourishing." Angel took the empty bag and threw it away, then sat down across from her.
After a few minutes, Lily slowly sat up straight and ran her hands over her face. She groaned. "I know better than to take a drunk on an empty stomach."
"At least we don't suffer hangovers."
"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you," Lily said slowly. Angel shook his head, grinning at her. Lily smiled back, feeling almost normal.
"So, why are you here?"
"Buffy wants you to take me to the Library so that I can help research all day," she said with a sigh, obviously not looking forward to it. "I'd really rather sleep for sixteen hours or so, but I know she's right."
"Okay. We can leave in a hour or so. You can get a little bit of sleep before we leave."
Angel pulled her to her feet and led her over to the bed.
"You need to sleep too."
"If I do, I won't wake up. I'll be fine," he said with a yawn.
Lily kicked off her shoes and took off her jacket under which she wore a pair of comfortable jeans and an ancient black Rocky Horror Picture Show t-shirt. She curled up on the bed as Angel grabbed some clothes from the closet.
As he headed for the bathroom to shower and dress, Angel turned with a look of concern on his face. "What was that about dying?" But, Lily was already asleep. Angel shrugged--must have been the booze--and went into the bathroom.
*****
Giles wasn't very comfortable about having to spend an entire day in the company of a vampire--even a good one-- but Jenny made Lily feel welcome and told Giles he was acting stuffy.
The day passed at a snail's pace. Lily quickly gave up on the books and left them in Giles' very capable hands, turning to the computer, where she displayed an astonishing proficiency.
Between chat rooms, web pages and so-called secure databases, she would doze at a table far removed from the few windows.
Buffy and the Slayerettes--as they called themselves--came in at lunch to find Lily attempting to hack into the Vatican archives. Enraptured by the possibility of a new mentor, Willow sat down next to her to aid her in any way possible.
But, by the end of the school day, there had been no progress and Lily was sacked out on the couch in Giles' office.
*****
Lily awoke at dusk and emerged from the office yawning. The Library was empty except for Giles who sat at a table absently skimming through a very large tome. He looked exhausted and she told him so.
"Hmm? Oh, yes, good evening." He adjusted his glasses then glanced down at the book as if he had never seen it before.
"When was the last time you slept a whole night through?" Lily asked.
"Umm." He gave her a puzzled look.
"Yes, I thought so. Go home Mr. Giles. You can't possibly do Buffy any good if you are exhausted. We still have nearly a week."
"Do you really think the Vatican has put this book on that box?" He pointed at the computer and Lily smiled.
"The Vatican is decades ahead of most governments. They have all kind of secrets on computer--books deteriorate after all and it's faster to scan than copy by hand. The original was written by a monk. A copy should have been sent to the Vatican Library. Good chance it's been scanned."
"Very sad that such a grand institution would turn to...those things," he said with distaste.
"People probably said the same thing about books, that they would bring about the downfall of the spoken word," Lily teased.
Giles reddened, then yawned.
"Go home."
Giles nodded slowly. "I sent everyone else home. We're all burned out. Tomorrow night then?"
"Sure."
Together they walked out of the school and went their separate ways. Lily had a couple of hours before she was supposed to meet Spike. She wondered if he had told Drusilla yet.
*****
Spike awoke at sunset, feeling weak again. Cursing under his breath he levered himself off the bed and carefully made his way across the messy floor to the dresser. His foggy mind registered that Drusilla--who always slept late-- wasn't in bed. He did remember them going to bed together, although thankfully she hadn't tried to seduce him. He pulled on some clothes at random--black jeans, a dark grey t-shirt, boots--then headed for the door.
Shaking his fuzzy head, trying to clear it, he walked into the large room. The flunkies were back, milling around, avoiding Drusilla who sat at the table taking notes out of the spell book.
"Oh, there you are, Spike. I need a virgin," she said in a bright, cheery voice. "Human, female, an adolescent." She waved her hand which held a piece of paper at him, indicating that he should take the paper and go fetch her what she wanted.
Certainly not in the mood to go hunting down such a rarity-- and just how in Satan's name was he supposed to know if a girl was a virgin, go up and ask?--Spike sat down at the head of the table. "Just when is this spell going to happen?"
Drusilla put the piece of paper down and frowned that he wasn't rushing to do her bidding. "The night of the crescent moon. Next Thursday."
"That's nearly a week away. If we capture a virgin now, we'll have to feed her and stuff." Spike made the whole thing sound very unappetizing. "Let's wait until at least Monday."
Drusilla glared at him and pointed one long black nail at a line in the book. "She has to be wilted."
Spike was totally confused. "Wilted? She's not lettuce."
Drusilla stamped her feet under the table. "I want my virgin!"
Shaking his head in exasperation, Spike stood up, pushing the chair back violently. "Then go find one yourself. I'm not up to hunting virgins tonight."
"I only need one," Dru said in a wheedling tone. "Pretty please with blood and bits of heart on top?"
Spike sighed. "Can't we send the others to find her?"
"No. It has to be you. You have to help me in this. Here, I've written down all the qualifications she needs to have." Drusilla handed him the piece of paper which he quickly read.
"Dru, this narrows it down to only a handful of girls. Does the spell really require all this?" he asked suspiciously.
"I require it," Drusilla snapped in a hard voice. "You know who I want." Her eyes bored into him and Spike felt very uncomfortable. There was something very different about Drusilla tonight. She was much saner. It was a little worrisome.
Spike decided to try another tack. He gave her a gentle smile and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. "Luv, I don't feel very strong tonight. Let me work at regaining my strength. Maybe tomorrow night."
Slowly his charm worked and Drusilla's pout turned into a resigned nod. "Tomorrow night. You promise?"
Spike nodded as his mind began to search for a way out of this mess. He had a bad feeling about this spell. A wilted virgin? What the Hell was that?
*****
Buffy's mom was conveniently out of town until Sunday night, so Lily was able to take some time pampering herself with a long shower. She was applying lotion to her smooth legs when Buffy came into the bathroom to use the curling iron.
"This is so weird. You're like so human," Buffy said, pointing to the lotion. Except for being paler than normal, Lily did look human. Wrapped in a towel, another one wrapped around her wet hair, she sat on a vanity bench with her foot propped up on the edge of the bathtub as she smoothed in the lotion.
Lily smiled up at the younger woman. "Just because I'm undead, doesn't mean I don't want to look my best," she quipped.
"Do you really have to use lotion to keep your skin smooth? Undeath should have some benefits--like not having to spend hours plucking, shaving and primping."
"Electrolysis took care of unwanted hair years ago, but what woman wants leathery skin?"
Buffy started to curl her hair. "Point."
Lily finished with the lotion and picked up a bottle of red nail polish. Having given herself a quick manicure before her shower, she began to paint her fingernails. "So, do you and Angel have a big date tonight?" she asked Buffy.
Buffy squirmed. She and Angel had never actually had a real date. They got together, they shared a lot of smoochies, they killed some vampires--so a good time was had by all, but... "Oh, not really. We're going to meet up at the Bronze later. It's really the only place for teenagers to hang unless you want to shop, but even the mall closes at nine."
"If there weren't so many vampires, this would be one boring town."
"Tell me about it. You've been here for what, two weeks? Try a year. Dullsville."
Lily laughed at the face Buffy made, then waved her hands around to dry her nails. At times, having no breath was a decided disadvantage.
"So, what are you doing tonight, or do I really not want to know?" Buffy asked.
"You probably don't want to know." Lily ignored Buffy's rolling of eyes. "I'm meeting Spike in the park at ten o'clock. I'd love to go dancing with him. Do you promise not to try to kill him if I bring him to the Bronze?"
Acting very put upon, Buffy sighed and nodded. "I'll give you a spare key so you don't have to wake me in the middle of the night, but please don't let Spike know where I live."
"I'm not that crazy."
*****
At ten o'clock Spike arrived at the bench in the park and sat down. He had managed to slip away from Drusilla a half hour earlier as she muttered to herself in what sounded like Romanian--not one of the many languages he was proficient in--and he had fed before meeting Lily. The fresh blood had restored him to some degree, but he still felt so damnably weak.
Scanning the paths leading to the bench, he saw Lily walking quickly toward him from the south. His mouth grew dry at the sight of her. She looked exquisite in a straight ankle length dress of scarlet silk with tiny silver straps over her shoulders and a plunging neckline. Her hair was piled on top of her head with little curls hanging down, exposing her long, white neck and her lips matched the color of her dress.
Spike stared for a minute, mouth hanging open, then grinned in delight and rose to his feet. He met her half way and took her in his arms to kiss her. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back hungrily. "Luv, you're a sight for sore eyes," he murmured against her cheek.
Lily's hands slid around to cup his cheeks and she looked deep into his eyes. She could see the weakness there. Slowly she extended her arm, offering the inside of her elbow to him. Pure trust shown in her eyes and gratefully Spike placed a kiss on her shoulder before lowering his mouth to her inner elbow. She shuddered as he bit.
*****
Later, they strolled hand in hand through the park. Spike admitted hesitantly that he hadn't told Drusilla. He didn't mention the spell she was working on, just said she was acting crazier than usual. Lily accepted it with a sigh, saying to herself that she'd let it slide for a few days, but then...
Lily asked him to take her dancing at the Bronze.
"You know, there are a few other places to dance in this pit of a town," he prevaricated.
"I like the Bronze. All those young people."
"All that young blood," Spike replied with a grin.
Lily hit him playfully, then slid her arm around his waist. He responded, pulling her close to his side.
"You know, the little Slayer bitch will probably be there."
"Please don't call her that," Lily said seriously.
"She wants me dead," he began to protest.
"And you want her dead, so you're even. She told me she'd leave you alone tonight. Please, for me, do the same."
Spike looked down into her pleading eyes and sighed deeply. "When I'm with you, I just don't feel like my bad old self."
Lily gave him a crooked smile. "Believe me, my love, you're bad enough for me."
He kissed her then they headed for the Bronze.
*****
At ten o'clock Buffy met up with Willow at her house, then they headed for the Bronze. Inside the music was loud and the crowd was growing. They grabbed a table and then watched Xander boogy his way off the dance floor and over to them.
"Finally, you fems show. I was getting lonely."
Buffy grinned at him. "You seemed to be doing fine out there by yourself. New dance move?"
"Yeah, want me to teach it to you?"
"Pass. If I wave my arms around like that, I might knock someone unconscious."
"So, is Angel coming tonight?" Willow asked.
"I think so," Buffy answered with a smile.
"Yeah, dead boy always livens things up," Xander muttered.
Buffy frowned at him then caught a glimpse of Cordelia, surrounded by her crowd, staring at them. She quickly looked away when she realized Buffy had seen her. "Does anyone know why Cordy keeps staring at us?"
"No, why would we know...Cordy, staring? Nah." Xander replied. "Come on, Willow. Let's dance." He quickly dragged her out onto the dance floor, leaving Buffy to shake her head.
"Way too much caffeine, Xand."
*****
It was retro 80s night at the Bronze, which meant very little to Lily. To her, there had been very little decent music since 1975. Disco had been such a disaster, she was only now beginning to listen to new music again.
Lily and Spike strolled into the Bronze to the strains of Culture Club's 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me'.
"Yes," Spike whispered in Lily's ear, answering the singer's plaintive question. Lily giggled and dumped her purse on an empty table.
"Come on, dance with me." She led him onto the dance floor, then wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him against her. As his hands slid around her back, they began to sway together, lost in the music and each other's eyes.
*****
Willow and Xander returned to their table to find Buffy frowning at the couple on the dance floor.
"Vampires at two o'clock," Xander quipped.
Buffy glowered even more and spoke through gritted teeth. "I promised her I wouldn't try to kill him tonight."
"Then ignore them," Willow said. "It's Friday night, this is the only happening spot for teens, let's party."
Buffy looked up at Willow and forced herself to relax. "You're right." The music switched to Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy.' "Come on, everybody dance."
The teenagers hit the dance floor on the opposite side from Lily and Spike and let the infectious music take over.
*****
The music segued from Prince to Pat Benetar's 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' to Billy Joel's 'Uptown Girl' to Duran Duran's 'Hungry Like the Wolf'. When the slower 'Smooth Operator' by Sade began to play, the teenagers took their seats. Lily and Spike continued to dance, moving together as one.
Cordelia wandered nonchalantly over to their table. "They're at it again."
"Yes, I can see that," Buffy responded sarcastically. Cordelia shot her a look, then plopped down in a chair next to Xander, avoiding looking at him.
"What if he's luring her into a trap?" she continued.
"By sleeping with her and cheating on Drusilla who's mad as a hatter?" Buffy shook her head. "I don't think so. Unfortunately, as disgusting and stomach churning as this is, I think it's real."
"They look like their in love," Willow said a little dreamily.
"Ick."
"Now, Buffy, remember what we talked about last night," Willow admonished. "You can't control who you're in love with."
Buffy sighed and pushed her hair behind her ears. "I know, but still..."
'Smooth Operator' ended and Elton John's 'Candle in the Wind' began. Lily and Spike kept dancing, occasionally kissing as they moved together. Lily's blood had reenergized Spike and he felt like he could dance with her forever.
He knew the Slayer was watching them like a hawk, but he trusted Lily's word that she wouldn't try to kill him. It pleased him that the little bitch didn't look happy, but he had enough intelligence not to mention that to Lily.
This was certainly a weird relationship he had gotten himself into. Usually the sight of the Slayer gave him this intense desire to rip her into itty bitty pieces. But, tonight, all he wanted to do was dance with Lily. Well, that wasn't all he wanted to do, but his desires had nothing to do with seeing the Slayer dead. It truly was a strange world...
'Rock Me Amadeus', a terribly silly song by Falco, began and by silent, mutual decision, Spike and Lily walked off the dance floor and back to their table. He went off to get them iced coffee and Lily opened her purse to remove her lipstick. She looked up to find Willow standing next to her.
"Good evening, Willow."
"Um, yeah, hi." Willow glanced over her shoulder at Buffy who was staring protectively at her friend, obviously ready to run to her defense if necessary. "By nearly unanimous vote, I got sent over here to see, you know, how you are."
Lily smiled and concentrated on applying the lipstick without a mirror--a real pain in the ass. Smacking her lips she looked back up at Willow. "Is my lipstick even?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, looks good."
Willow looked incredibly uncomfortable and Lily took her hand and tugged her down into a seat. "It's okay, Willow."
"Where did he go?" Willow asked, glancing around warily.
"Coffee. He won't hurt you."
Lily sounded sincere, but Willow wasn't sure she trusted her. When she was around Spike, Lily seemed to lose all objectivity.
Willow squeaked at the sight of Spike headed their way with two cups of coffee. "So, you're okay? Having fun and everything? I gotta go." Just as Spike reached the table, Willow rose to her feet and froze, like a deer caught in headlights.
Spike set the coffee down and gave Willow a slow, evil grin.
Across the room, Xander physically restrained Buffy from going over and staking Spike.
"He isn't going to hurt her here in front of everyone," he said, trying to calm her down.
Cordelia gave Buffy an exasperated look and pulled her back down into a chair. "We sent Willow over there rather than you, because you undoubtedly would have attacked him, totally blowing your Slayer cover."
"I really hate this...," Buffy muttered as she sat and sizzled.
"Sit down Spike and stop acting like a big bully," Lily chastised. To Willow's amazement, Spike obediently sat down and took one of Lily's hands, raising it to his lips. "Tell them all I'm fine and having a wonderful time. I don't need seventeen year old chaperones," Lily said to Willow. "Even though it is rather sweet."
Willow squeaked again, then nearly jumped out of her skin as two hands came down on her shoulders.
"Is everything alright here?" Angel asked with a slight hint of menace in his voice. In his presence, Willow immediately relaxed, totally trusting that he would protect her. Lily thought that was rather amazing.
"Well, well, well, the gang's all here," Spike quipped. "You really have become a boy scout, haven't you? Protecting the Slayer, protecting the Slayer's friends. Pretty stupid of them to trust you so much."
Angel didn't let Spike's words faze him. "It's a trust I've earned. You should try it sometime. Oh, I forgot, you're just a demon in disguise. No soul, no humanity, just a fake."
"Boys," Lily said sternly. Both of them shut up. "Angel, take Willow away. Tonight, I demand we have a truce. No one attacks anyone. We all just have fun."
Angel nodded a little reluctantly and guided Willow away from the table.
Spike relaxed and took a sip of his coffee. "I don't like that guy."
"I do." Lily sipped her coffee as well and sighed. "I doubt we'll have many mutual friends, Spike. Right now, I don't really care."
He grinned and kissed her hand again, nibbling on one of her fingers. She returned his smile, enjoying his attention and shivering at the feel of his mouth on her skin.
Angel and a very relieved Willow joined the group at the other table. Cordelia was still there, ignoring the shocked looks of her group of friends. Later she'd just have to make up something to soothe them, but, for now, this was too important.
Immediately, Angel sat next to Buffy and took her hands, rubbing them gently. "How are you holding up?"
"Every instinct I have says 'go, slay, dust', but I'm restraining myself."
"Good girl." They kissed tenderly and ignored Xander's gagging noises.
Spike and Lily drank their coffee in companionable silence while the music switched to 'Love Shack' by the B-52s and then Glenn Frey's 'Smuggler's Blue's'. When 'Fright Night' by the J. Geils Band started, Lily gave Spike a grin and dragged him to his feet. The theme song from a rather cute--if totally erroneous--vampire movie was just the kind of song she was in the mood to dance to.
"Oh, this is perfect," Buffy cried, exhorting everyone to join her on the dance floor.
"What is this?" Spike yelled to Lily over the music as they reached the crowded floor.
"Theme to a vampire movie."
"Great," he replied sarcastically but danced with her. Over her shoulder he saw the Slayer dancing with her friends and Angel. She grinned wickedly at him and half pulled a stake from up her sleeve, taunting him. Great. He was definitely in enemy territory and his new girlfriend was singing about staking vampires!
*Can't you see it's tearing us a part; I've got to drive a stake right through his heart...*
"Lovely song," he muttered.
Lily reached up and caught him around the neck so that she could kiss him, then spun away from him, dancing up a storm.
As the song ended, Spike shook his head at her exuberance, then his face softened as "Lady in Red" by Chris deBurgh began. He reeled Lily back into his arms to circle slowly to the music.
*The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek,
There's nobody here, it's just you and me,
It's where I want to be,
But I hardly know this beauty by my side,
I'll never forget the way you look tonight*
Spike held Lily closer, his lips gently moving across her cheek to capture her ear. She shivered, embracing him tightly, letting the music wash over her, and caught his lips with her own.
*And I have never had such a feeling,
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight*
Over by the bar a woman stood, a woman in a long red dress, a woman tightly gripping the edge of the bar to prevent herself from storming the dance floor and ruining her plans. Fury rammed through Drusilla as she watched her beloved consort dance with and touch and kiss another lady in red.
A vacant looking young man sidled up to her and asked her to dance. Getting herself under control, Drusilla took his hand and led him not to the dance floor but outside to a convenient alley. As he eagerly put his hands on her, reaching for her breasts, she slammed him against the wall and took her fury out on him. She drained him dry then ripped off certain parts of his anatomy and stuffed them in his mouth.
Wiping her bloody hands on the dead man's jacket, she smiled gleefully down at her piece of art. If only it was Spike. When she was done with him, he would have no use for those parts either!
Now, back to her plans...
Back inside the Bronze, the music had changed to Whitney Houston's 'Greatest Love of All'. Lily and Spike continued to dance as did Angel and Buffy. Halfway through the song, the two couples found themselves dancing next to each other. Buffy realized it first and stiffened in Angel's arms which caused him to look up. He kept her dancing, holding her protectively, as Spike saw where they were and jerked backwards. Lily stumbled up against him, then saw what he was pulling her away from. It gave her the giggles.
"It's not funny," Spike protested.
"Yes it is." Lily gripped his shoulders, laughing into his chest. Finally, she heard him chuckle along with her and he swung her around before kissing her.
"They are enjoying themselves way too much," Buffy muttered.
"Can you ignore them for five seconds?" Angel asked.
Buffy smiled at his whiny tone and reached up to caress his face. "Is Buffy not paying attention to her big bad Angel?"
Angel growled in mock seriousness. "Buffy's going to find herself dumped on her butt by her big bad Angel..."
She slipped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to her's. At the touch of his lips, she forgot all about Spike and Lily.
"What does he see in her?" Spike said with a sigh as he watched his formerly evil sire kiss the Slayer of all people.
Lily just shook her head, nipping at his neck to bring his attention back to her. It worked.
Slow song faded into fast and as Lily recognized the music to 'Sisters' by Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin, she pulled away from Spike and playfully pushed him towards their table. "This is for girls only. Go make nice with Angel."
"Over his dead body," Spike called as he stepped off the dance floor.
Lily joined Buffy, Willow and Cordelia in the middle of the dance floor as they moved energetically to the music. Angel had taken a seat with Xander who, Lily noticed, was watching Cordelia with puppy dog eyes. Cordelia was not oblivious to that look, although she did a good job of pretending to ignore him as she got Willow to loosen up her dance style.
*Sisters are doin' it for themselves
Standin' on their own two feet
And ringin' on their own bells
Sisters are doin' it for themselves*
The young women started to bump hips, giggling and singing along, and when Buffy bumped into Lily and grinned up at her, Lily knew she'd been accepted. She hadn't felt so young in decades.
*Everybody, take a look around
Can you see, can you see, can you see
There's a woman right next to you*
*****
It was a little after midnight when Lily and Spike left the Bronze. They strolled slowly towards the park, arms around each other's waists, not talking, just enjoying being with each other.
Lily was getting tired, something that felt very strange at this time of night, but, then, she hadn't slept much during the day. Still, she didn't want this night to end.
Spike didn't want the night to end either, but he had a rather more lascivious plan for the next few hours than Lily's rather sweet desire to sit and talk for awhile, then kiss good night.
As soon as they sat down on what they were beginning to think of as 'their bench', Spike began to kiss her. Lily returned the kiss for a minute, then pulled back, unable to prevent a yawn from escaping.
"That boring am I, sweet?" Spike drawled.
If she could have, Lily would have blushed in embarrassment. "No, not at all. I didn't get much sleep today."
"So, what were you doing?"
"Oh, nothing really, just couldn't sleep," she lied. Although she hated lying to him, she didn't dare tell him about the prophecy or the dreams.
"Well, we could head back to your place and take a nap," Spike said with a grin. "Maybe you'll feel more energized in a couple of hours."
Lily couldn't help smiling. He was such a male...She shook her head. "I'm staying at a friend's."
Spike scowled in suspicion. "Angel?"
"That wouldn't exactly be safe." At his look of puzzlement, she explained further. "When you stormed out the other night, I feared you would return to kill me. I had to find somewhere safe."
A look of incredulity crossed his face. "You're staying at a human's? Let me guess, the little bitch's."
"I can't tell you where I'm staying. Admit it, Spike, where humans are concerned, you can't be trusted," she replied honestly.
Spike looked chagrined, but finally nodded. "How about we get another motel room?" he wheedled.
"How about we see each other tomorrow night?" At his crestfallen look, she continued softly. "Tonight was wonderful. I've really enjoyed learning that we can have fun without sex. That's important to a relationship."
"Females...," Spike mumbled under his breath, staring at his feet. Tenderly, Lily lifted his chin up and leaned forward to kiss him. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. Lily felt a spark of desire, but it was overwhelmed by the need for sleep. All the dancing hadn't helped, but had been worth it. She had always loved to dance.
Finally, with a sigh of resignation, Spike pulled back and turned her in his arms so that she could rest against him. Lily wrapped her arm across his chest and let her head slip onto his shoulder. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too."
Feeling comfortable and protected, Lily let her eyes fall shut. But, she didn't fall asleep. She knew in her heart that Spike would protect her from most creatures of the night, but he was still tied to Drusilla and Lily didn't know what he might do for his former lover. After all, she didn't want to wake up in a cage.
*****
The sound of footsteps approaching roused Lily and she opened her eyes. Coming around a corner of the western path were Xander and Cordelia. Walking hand in hand, they were totally enraptured with each other, ignoring the danger they were about to stumble into it.
Beneath her cheek Lily felt Spike tense. Instinctively, she tightened her arm across his chest, pinning him to the bench with her body. She heard Cordelia whimper and looked up to see the couple only about ten feet away, frozen in place and staring at Spike.
Xander pulled Cordelia against his side and began to back up cautiously. Lily glanced up at Spike and saw that his face had shifted. His demonic eyes were locked on the couple. She knew he wasn't that hungry. The demon inside him loved to kill for fun as much as for food.
A low growl came from him and Lily reached up to grab his neck, dragging his lips to her's. His fangs scraped her lips and tongue as he devoured her mouth, but she held him tightly, desperate to keep him from the teenagers. Spike dragged her across his body, his mouth moving swiftly down to her throat. As he bit and sucked hungrily, Lily moaned. It hurt.
Innate self-preservation caused her to lever herself off his lap with a tremendous push against his chest. Breaking his embrace, Lily sprawled ungracefully on the ground at his feet. A quick glance over her shoulder showed her that Xander and Cordelia had taken the opportunity to disappear.
Lily scuttled backwards a couple of feet then warily stood. A trembling hand went to the messy wound in her neck as she looked at Spike who had his head in his hands, elbows propped on his knees. Cautiously she took a couple of steps forward, then stopped, unsure of how to proceed.
He had hurt her. She had moved instinctively to protect the children, to prevent him from attacking them. There was no way in Heaven or on Earth that she could kill him, so she had tried to distract him. She had failed to take into account that his demon's lust for blood was stronger than his love for her.
Slowly Spike raised his head, straightening his body. Their eyes met and Lily saw sadness...and more. That couldn't possibly be remorse. Demons didn't truly feel sorry for anything...Did they?
He reached out his hand hesitantly, as if he expected her to reject him. Unable to prevent herself--and not really wanting to--she took his hand, her fingers sliding between his. The look of relief that settled on his face was profound.
Slowly he drew her towards him, silently letting her know that she was free to stop him, to leave, at any moment.
Lily wasn't going anywhere. He was sorry; she truly believed that he was sorry, amazing as that was for a demon. It was unexpected...and it was something upon which they could build.
Gracefully, Lily slid onto his lap, into his arms. They were trembling...from fear? Fear that she would leave him? That she could not forgive him?
Her arms slipped around his neck and she held on tightly, letting her head rest on his shoulder. His head bent, his lips touched her hairline, her cheek, so very grateful...
*****
An eternity later, Lily felt Spike's fingers gently probing the messy wound in her neck. Her blood had stopped flowing but not before darkening the front of her dress and drying on her shoulder. Ironically, she had done the damage herself. When she had flung herself from him, his fangs had torn down her neck.
"I'm a mess," she murmured into his neck.
"I'm a bastard," he growled in response.
With a sigh Lily roused herself and moved off of him, sitting next to him on the bench. There was anger on his face. Anger at himself, she guessed. He took a swift look at her, then stared straight ahead and dug in his coat pocket. Pulling out a white linen handkerchief, he handed it to her without looking at her again. Lily dabbed at the wounds and wiped off her shoulder, staining the pure white cloth an ugly reddish-brown.
"Why are you still here?"
Lily thought about Spike's question for a moment. "I love you. I know what you are. I just have to learn how to live with the fact that I'm in love with a demon."
Spike snorted then fell silent for a moment. "Earlier you said that you can't trust demons. You're right. You shouldn't trust me. When I saw those two I reacted instinctively. If you hadn't stopped me, perhaps I would have stopped myself. I can control my impulses when I want to and the logical side of my brain probably would have yelled 'Slayer's friends' and 'would ruin date'," he explained. "But...if you weren't here, if I was really hungry, if the Slayer was out of the picture..." He didn't finish the sentence.
"You kill. I understand that."
"Do you really?" he asked. "I *am* a demon. I live to destroy. I have a human form, the memories and emotions of the human I possessed, but I also have the blood lust of a demon. I can control it to a point, when I want to, but most of the time, I don't want to!"
Lily began to get a sinking feeling in her heart. She had known all of this. Why had she ignored it?
"I love you because the kind of demon I am, for some reason, can feel and express the full range of human emotions, but I AM A KILLER." He didn't raise his voice, but stressed each word, trying to make her understand that he couldn't and didn't want to change.
"I know that," she replied in a dull voice. "So am I. Only, I kill demons."
Had it only been an hour ago that they had been so happy ...so stupidly happy?
"You shouldn't forgive me for hurting you. You should just walk away."
"That would be the easy way out, Spike. The love *I* feel isn't so shallow." Lily looked up at the moon for a moment as a cloud passed over it, then turned to Spike. "You hurt me, but loving someone isn't all sweetness and light. Loving can hurt. The fact that I'm in love with a demon is something I have to accept, but you have to accept that you're in love with a Slayer. I never said I would stop slaying vampires."
Spike looked up in surprise and then thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, I guess I don't have the right to ask you that," he muttered.
"No. Can we live with it?"
Spike didn't answer her for several minutes. "I don't know," he said honestly. "All I know is that I can't live without you."
"When I looked at you, after you did this," she began, touching her neck. "I saw something in your eyes, your very expressive eyes, that I couldn't believe. I saw remorse."
"I didn't mean to hurt you. I...hate that I hurt you." Spike gave her a puzzled look and Lily began to smile. "Demons don't feel remorse or regret." He obviously was trying to figure this out.
"Maybe some demons do," and all the hope in the world was in Lily's voice.
End Chapter 10