Work Text:
That Night
by Ragna
Spike was whining. "This is the time of year when we're supposed to give, yet you take and take and take..."
Willow just shook her head. "I gave you me didn't I?"
"Suppose you did." He handed her a bowl. "Your soup."
"Nummy, tomato." She sniffed the soup for a moment and then recoiled. She turned to Spike, who took a spoonful and spit it out. "I was about to tell you..."
"This isn't my blood!"
"No, *that's* my tomato soup." Willow handed the unopened bowl to him and took hers. She set it down next to a pile of books she'd brought with her. "I've lost my appetite for the moment."
Spike took his now open bowl of blood and pored it into the mug he had with him. He looked at Willow and grinned. "Want a taste, Red?"
"Um, no. Thanks." She picked up a book and began skimming through it. "Hey, Spike?"
"Yes, love?"
"Ever wonder what might have happened if, you know, you'd been able to bite me that night?"
"That night" referred to the night in Willow's dorm, when Spike had tried to bite her but they discovered that the chip in his head prevented him from hurting humans. Something about him that night had xhanged Willow's opinion on the vampire. She spent time with him, got to know him. And Spike, for his part, was encouraged by the fact that someone gave a damn about him.
It was a good match, the two of them thought. Of course, no one else agreed at the time. In fact, Buffy had asked Willow to move out of the dorm room when Spike had stated he would like to stay over one night.
Now Willow was a Scooby-by-relation-to-Xander-and-Giles. Buffy didn't acknowledge her or her relationship with Spike, which both Spike & WIllow found a bit hypocritical. Xander had gotten over the initial shock, as had Giles, and while they weren't super supportive, it didn't change their point of view about her.
"I don't know, pet. Probably would have drained you dry."
"You're serious?"
Spike shrugged. "All I knew about you then was you were the Slayer's friend and you knew magic. That would have hurt her, which was what I wanted to do."
Willow nodded, shutting the book and turning to Spike. "Well, I'm glad it didn't work."
"I am too, pet. Like you too much now to consider you a snack."
Willow smiled. "You know what? I'm tired of being in this room all day, and it's past sunset. Want to go for a walk?"
Spike took her hand. "Why not?"
***
As they walked through the campus, Buffy watched from a distance and scowled. She blamed Spike for the loss of her best friend. Things weren't the same anymore, and it was all his fault.
She glanced at the couple one more time before turning away. It hurt to see them together, mostly because she'd pushed Willow away. She was the real cause of the rift in their friendship, she realized, not Spike.
Didn't mean she had to like him, though.
She headed for Willow's new dorm. She'd wait for them to return, and then eat some crow and apologize. Willow was happy, and that was a good thing.
Right?