Take Your Time

By Carrie

 

DISCLAIMER: Most of the characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. No copyright infringement intended. A few minor characters of my own making will show up now and then. < > indicate thoughts and/or feelings

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Part Seven

Willow went for her usual afternoon ride. Even in the new cottage with its separate bedrooms, she still felt like she needed to get away for a while every day. Spike had plenty of time to himself. She often wondered what he did every night, all night, besides eat that is. Then she decided it was best that she didn't know.

She was standing on the same cliff again, absorbing the beautiful scenery, feeling both lucky for being able to experience this tranquil, unspoiled land; and ill-fated for being forced to leave all that she knew at the same time, when she sensed that she wasn't alone.

"Why are you here?" she asked without even turning around. Somehow she knew he was there. She wasn't sure how, it just felt like there was electricity in the air that wasn't there before. It felt like an approaching summer storm, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for upsetting ya the other mornin'. Little Jon mentioned that ya went ridin' every day and after a little convincin' he told me ya usually come up here."

"I come here to be alone, and I don't feel like talking right now."

Angel went to stand beside her, hands in his pockets, waiting for her to look at him. "Fine, ya can just listen then. Yer right, I have been treatin' ya badly, like it's a game, and for this I am truly sorry. I realize yer a married woman, so I would be happy if we could be friends, anyway."

Willow turned to study his face for a moment. She could see he was sincere. "Friends?" She chuckled a little, "I don't think you know how to be just friends with a woman, Angelus."

"Well, there is a first time for everything Rose. And I would be honored if ya would be my first!" he laughed, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

Willow couldn't help but smile. When he was happy, it was contagious. She wondered if she should refuse, but she was lonely, and after all, they would just be friends, right? < It couldn't hurt to be friends for a couple of months! >

"If you promise to behave yourself, I would love your friendship, Angelus."

"I will be a perfect gentleman, on my honor," he said with his hand on his heart. "Now, the first thing we are goin' to do is teach ya to ride a horse properly, and then we'll see about gettin' ya a horse of yer own."

Willow remembered how he told her that his family raised and bred horses so he was an expert in the field, but still her pride was wounded. "What? I know how to ride! I got here didn't I?" she said haughtily.

"Only provin' to me that there are angels watchin' out for ya! The way ya was ridin' it's a bloomin' miracle that ya made it without breakin' yer pretty neck!"

Willow gave him a fake little scowl.

"Sorry, yer, um, very married little neck! Now, let me show ya the right way to hold the reins," he began. They spent the rest of the afternoon together, as one friend taught another the finer points of horsemanship.

~~~~~

The vampire lay on the bed in his darkened room. He wasn't trying to sleep so much as just pass the time until it was dark and he could get out of the house. Their new accommodations were a great improvement over the cramped quarters at the inn, in that now they at least had their own bedrooms. It was a relief to have somewhere to go to escape Willow's searching gaze during daylight hours. She had an uncanny way of looking right through him, and if he had a soul he would swear that she could read it. It left him feeling befuddled, so he resorted to what he did best, using her innocence as an endless source of teasing and sexual innuendo. It was a crude but effective means of keeping her in line.

Yet, lately she hadn't been around as much since she had come to some sort of understanding with Angelus that they were going to be just friends. < That's a laugh! She'll fall in love with him. They all do! > Spike abruptly sat up at that thought. He didn't know why, but the idea of her falling in love with Angel irked him, more than it should. It wasn't that he was jealous or that he had developed any actual feelings for the girl, but he was beginning to feel protective of her. In the end he chalked it up to having to share Drusilla for all that time. Even before Angel lost his soul again Spike felt like he had to compete with the memory of Dru's sire. < Soon I will never have to worry about Angel again! > Spike laid backed down, pondering his future with Drusilla sans Angel, when his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of Willow's exhaling coming from the other room.

"Love, do you mind keeping it down," Spike bellowed from his room. "Some of us are trying to get some sleep in here!"

Willow jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice. They had been in their new place for almost a week now and on the rare occasions that they were in the same room together, they still had little to say to each other. She would watch him, trying to think of something, anything, to break the silence without sounding like an idiot, but an icy glance from him would chase all the thoughts out of her head. It wasn't because Willow was scared of Spike, because for the most part she wasn't anymore, but she couldn't help but be aware of him anytime he was in the house. He was, after all, a handsome, sexy demon. < If you are into that sort of thing! > And he made sure, with his provocative insinuations, that she never forgot that they were sleeping under the same roof as man and wife, even if in name only.

She had been seeing Angelus nearly every day since they defined their relationship. Sometimes they would have a meal together, but most often they went for a ride, and they were quickly becoming very good friends. But today it was raining, hard, and Angelus had some work to do, so Willow had been wandering around the small cottage, sighing.

She stopped her meandering in front of the stone fireplace and turned to protest at Spike's closed door. "I didn't say a thing!"

Spike flung the door open, irritation apparent on his pale face. "No, but I can hear you sighing like you were in the bed next to me. Sharp senses, remember?"

Willow snickered to herself. < Bed next to you? Not in this lifetime! > "Sorry, but you should have thought about that before you joined the army of the undead. Life is not nocturnal. Besides, you've already slept for eight hours. That should be enough for anybody."

"I'm not any *body*," he said, leaning casually against the door. "And it would do you well to bloody well remember, that as *not* any body, I can suck the life force right out of you whenever I choose, ducks."

Willow ignored his thinly veiled attempt to intimidate her and stood her ground, knowing that he couldn't kill her even if he wanted to.

< Well, that didn't work! > "I think you just missed me and woke me up on purpose," he teased, trying a new approach.

< Here we go again > Willow plopped down on a wooden chair at the trestle table and fiddled with an apple. < I am so bored! > "So Spike," she began. "Tell me about yourself."

"What?" he said indignantly, still standing in the doorway, half-dressed.

"We are going to be together for years so we might as well get to know one another, right?"

"Listen Red, go find yourself a girlfriend to chat with. I have no intention of becoming your new best friend."

"Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the coffin," Willow retorted.

"We don't sleep in coffins, as you very well now. You have watched too much tele," he said putting on a shirt.

"Well, what do you do all night, besides, um, you know."

"I have a few pints with the boys, play some cards, and a lot of 'um, you know'. It can take quite a while to get a full meal. It isn't like there is an all you can eat blood buffet down the street. I have to be very careful, discreet...

"Stealth-guy! Or, um, demon," Willow added. Then, feeling flustered by the odd look he gave her, she changed the subject. "Oh, um, cards, really? What do you play?"

"Poker, naturally," he said. "Passes the time and makes some money. How else am I going to keep you in the manner to which you were never accustomed? You play?"

Willow sighed again. "No." Then her face brightened. "Teach me! I mean, what else are we gonna do? And, with it being spring and all, we are going to have a lot of rainy days, so we might as well find something else to pass the time."

"I can think of better ways to pass the time on a rainy day, but, luckily for you I left my whips and chains in my other trousers," he smirked devilishly, grabbing a pack of cards from his room and tossed them at her. "Do you at least know how to handle a deck?"

Willow shuffled the cards expertly. When Spike looked at her questioningly, Willow just said, "Xander and I used to play Old Maid and Go Fish a lot. We even bet sometimes."

"Strip Old Maid? I'd pay a couple of bob to see that!" he goaded and then realized he meant it.

"Actually, we played for Twinkies."

"You can call it whatever you want, Princess. I would still love to see it!" Spike grinned in spite of himself.

"Shut up and deal," she laughed back, sliding the cards to him.

 

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