I Scream, You Scream…
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters, which should be clear by now. I play much nicer with my toys than Joss does.
Summary: Spike, Angel, and Buffy plus ice cream. You do the math. Set in a post-NFA world.
A/N: Written for Challenge #2 at the fics_for_fun community on Livejournal.
Spike froze as he entered the room. The last thing he’d
expected to find was Angel and Buffy sitting in the kitchen, eating ice cream;
all he’d wanted was a
“Spike.” The guilty look on Buffy’s face was almost enough to make his heart stop beating; how odd that he could mean that literally now.
He backed out of the room. “Sorry to interrupt.”
Angel caught up with him halfway down the hall. “Spike—”
“Save it.”
“Why don’t you join us?”
“I wouldn’t want to get in the way,” he replied, his tone intentionally snide.
Angel grabbed his arm and slammed him up against the wall. “Would you just stop for a moment? It’s not what you think. We’re friends.”
“Get off me!” Spike broke away, pushing him back.
“Spike!”
“Forget it!” He stalked off down the hall. The Shanshu had
changed everything and nothing; Angel was still the one who had it all,
particularly since the prophecy had apparently applied to both souled vampires.
Spike slammed the door to his room behind him. Almost two
weeks after winning the battle in
She’d taken one look at him in that alley and turned to shout directions at the remaining Potentials. Since that morning, the only times he’d seen her, she’d been with someone else. They’d never had the opportunity to speak alone; she hadn’t sought him out, and when he went looking for her, she always managed to evade him.
He sank down on his bed, putting his head in his hands. His head hurt; that was new. Spike was still getting used to all the aches and pains associated with being mortal. Not human—neither he nor Angel were completely human. That probably only made things worse; there was no difference between him and the big git, and Buffy had made her choice.
There was a knock on the door, and Spike glanced up. “Come in.”
Buffy entered, holding a bowl and spoon. “Hey.”
Swallowing, he managed, “Hey.”
She shut the door behind her and handed him the bowl. “I thought you might be hungry.”
“Yeah.” He stared down at it. “What kind is it?”
“I don’t remember what it’s called. It has toffee pieces in it, though.” She sat down next to him on the bed. “How are you?”
Spike laughed bitterly. “Finally getting around to askin’ me that, are you?”
“Spike—”
“It’s been two weeks, Buffy,” he said, rising. He put the bowl down on the small table. “Every time I tried to talk to you, you disappeared.”
“I didn’t know what to say.” Buffy sighed. “Eat your ice cream before it melts, would you?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“What isn’t?”
She rolled her eyes, rising to face him. “You know what. There’s a lot of history between Angel and me, and we had some things to say to each other. It just so happens we ran into each other in the kitchen tonight.”
“Right, well, you two are perfect for each other. Why don’t you—”
She silenced him by putting her finger to his lips. “Do me a favor and shut up. After Angel gave me that amulet, I told him I needed time to be by myself, and I let him believe that when I was ready, I might be with him again.”
Spike grunted. “Yeah, so? I knew that, Buffy. You kissed him. I knew—”
“I said that because it was too hard to tell him that it was definitely over, especially when I knew I might not make it out. I didn’t want to leave things on a sour note.” She smiled, looking a little sheepish. “I’m not very good at breaking up.”
“I don’t know about that,” he muttered. “You did a pretty bang up job of it with me.”
“Spike…” She looked away. “Why didn’t you come see me? I know you could have.”
“Because I didn’t know what you’d say.”
“You mean because you didn’t believe me,” Buffy accused him. “You didn’t believe I meant what I said in the Hellmouth.”
“Did you?” Spike asked, one eyebrow raised.
She glared at him. “I don’t say things like that lightly.”
“Figured it was a sop to a dying man.”
“When have I ever pulled my punches?”
“Point.” He glanced over at the melting ice cream. “So, what now?”
She touched him on the forearm, hesitantly, as though she expected him to shake off her hand. “We could get reacquainted,” she suggested.
Spike was faintly disappointed. “Yeah.”
She touched his cheek, gently turning his head. “I meant it, you know.”
“Yeah?”
Her lips met his, and Spike allowed himself to believe.
~~~~~
Faith sauntered into the kitchen, unsurprised to see Angel sitting there. She’d heard him yelling at Spike earlier. Not that Spike and Angel yelling at each other was anything new.
“What’s up?”
He shrugged. “Just getting something to eat.”
“Any more of that?”
“Help yourself.”
“What was all the yelling about?”
“Spike saw Buffy and I talking,” Angel replied. “He didn’t take it well.”
“Can you blame him?” Faith asked. “Everybody knows what a yen he’s got for her.” She straddled her chair and began to dig into the ice cream. “Anything up between you and B?”
“We’re friends,” Angel replied firmly. “Nothing more.”
“When did that happen?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It just did.”
“No need to be so touchy.” Faith crunched down on the toffee pieces appreciatively. “Just seems like you guys have always—I don’t know.”
“Wanted what we couldn’t have?” Angel asked, his tone rueful. “And then, when we couldn’t have it, we decided to move on. It just so happens that we really did.”
“Makes sense.” Faith could be sympathetic. She’d broken up with Robin not that long before, and while it hadn’t been as acrimonious as it might have, it hadn’t been pleasant. Saying goodbye was never fun. “What are you going to do next?”
Angel shook his head. “I don’t know. Spike will probably stay with Buffy, but…” He trailed off. “I don’t think I can.”
“Stay with Buffy, or stay here?”
“Both.”
“Go somewhere else, then.” Faith scraped the bottom of her bowl. “Hell, you can always go where the Hellmouth is.”
“Where is it?”
“
He nodded slowly. “I’ll think about it.”
Faith grinned. “You do that.” She rose from the table. “I’m going back to bed.”
She hummed under her breath on the way back to her room in Council headquarters, satisfied with her night’s work. B had been worried about Angel putting up a fight when he realized that she was going to choose Spike, and Faith had offered to take him off her hands.
Not that she minded. She’d always liked Angel, and he was a useful guy to have around. With the Shanshu, she didn’t even have to worry about him losing his soul.
She felt a sense of smug satisfaction. A few more hints, and
Angel would be happy to go to