Chapter 15: Innocent
[ Read the whole story | Read the last chapter ]
A/N: Do not take the pee comment literally.
A/N #2: This is a revised version of this (if you're curious about what's changed).
"I mean it, Spike," Buffy warned him as they emerged from his jet, "if you so much as graze me on the way home, I'm doing a jump and roll."
"Onto my lap, or out of the car?"
She gave him a look. This was exactly why she should take a cab.
With a solemn nod, he pressed, "So that's a no to whisking you back to my place, then?"
"If you dare--"
"I'll be good," he interrupted, hands up, followed by an entirely too mischievous grin.
Buffy wagged a finger at him. "Jump and roll, Spike! Jump and--" His face fell, and she followed his uneasy gaze to the tarmac. "...Oh."
Lindsey.
Was standing at the end of the runway.
With a huge bouquet of red roses.
"Well," Spike said curtly. "Isn't that sweet."
Feeling faint, Buffy did all she could do: grin wide and wave. "Ohgod."
Spike heaved a sigh. "Right, then. Let's not keep the husband waiting."
"I can't. I can't move."
"No reason to panic, love. Breathe. Clear your mind." Spike steered her elbow. Did he have to wear black leather gloves? "I've got you. Come down the stairs with me. One step at a time."
One step at a time. Step. Step. Step. Step. Solid ground.
"I'm going to walk you to him now," he said, voice competing with a jet engine. "Follow my lead. All right?"
"Okay." This was so wrong -- in so many ways -- but they both knew that if he didn't give her this push, she'd still be frozen on the hydraulic platform.
"Smile, pet." He smiled ahead at Lindsey. "A spouse's capacity for denial knows no bounds. He wants to believe you're faithful."
Wise words from the seasoned cheater. I'm a cheater. She whimpered.
"Now, go on ahead," he told her once they were near. "But don't get too showy, might hurt my feelings."
"Ha," she said, given the exact fuel she needed to get showy. Lindsey! My gorgeous wonderful husband! Who I love and missed and love! "Baby! You came to get me! That's so sweet!"
"Nice voice, Scratchy," Lindsey laughed, and hugged her tight.
She cautioned before his lips met hers, "I could be contagious."
"I'll take my damn chances," he said, kissed her overzealously, crushing the roses between them. "I missed you, babe."
"Me too. It felt like forever."
"Go easy on her, now," Spike said. "She got a little feverish on the plane."
Buffy turned to glare at him. What happened to Helpful Guy?
"I'll take it from here, sir." Lindsey gave her waist an extra-possessive squeeze as he shook his father's outstretched hand. "I know just what to do for her."
Whoa. Did Lindsey just pee on her a little? And were they still shaking hands and staring at each other like they were ready to rumble? She had to say something.
"It's a fact," Buffy chirped. "My guy is the king of TLC. In Mexico, when I came down with that bug, he was my absolute savior." Can't. Stop. Rambling. "Guess I'm not cut out for world travel, huh?"
"I think you are," Spike said with a totally obvious wink. Luckily, Lindsey was too busy laughing at her to notice.
"Listen to you!" Lindsey nudged her. "You sound like Peter Brady."
"I do not!"
"Sing, 'When it's time to chaaange'--"
Giggling, she pushed him away. "No!"
"Right. Well," Spike broke in, a slight resentment in his tone. "I'll leave you to it, then."
Buffy sniffed her bouquet.
"Is a hug from my daughter too much to expect?"
She nearly inhaled a petal and choked on it. My daughter?
Did that smile look paternal or predatory? She couldn't tell anymore. Hoping to god it read paternal to Lindsey -- and that their hug would read platonic, Buffy went to Spike. Her heart clomped in her throat. Their cheekbones collided, she didn't know where to put her hands, he rubbed her lower back, one of the roses dropped to the ground...
He retrieved it for her and held it up like a suitor, eyes sparkling. "Let's do this again sometime, shall we?"
At a loss for words, she took it from his hand.
He walked away, and Lindsey snorted. "Wow."
Buffy braced herself.
"That might be the most awkward hug I've ever witnessed."
Relieved, she smiled at him. "Shut up."
"You shut up." He wrapped an arm around her, touched her lips. "No talking 'til you've had some of my famous chicken soup, you hear?"
He really did want to believe she was faithful.
Maybe, if she tried, she could believe it, too.
* * *
Denial was awesome.
Buffy thought it would be hard to be with Lindsey now, but all she had to do was push Spike and Paris out of her mind, and it was like nothing had ever changed.
It helped, of course, that she wasn't allowed to speak.
Granted, the fact that she was capable of such deceit proved fairly perturbing, but a part of her almost felt she deserved sympathy for all she'd endured. Not from Lindsey, per se, but since he was offering...
Swaddled in blankets and pampered with soup and menthol rub to cure her phony ailment, i.e., the best excuse she could conjure for postponing reunion sex, Buffy made the most of it.
Each time a memory hit, she reframed it as a dream, then filed it away with her actual dreams in a skyscraping tower of file cabinets marked INNOCENT. It was an architectural marvel, really: sleek, impenetrable and secure.
Until Lindsey came at it with a giant wrecking ball marked GUILTY.
"So," he prefaced with a sideways smile, "I have a surprise for you."
"Another one? Honey, you've been so sweet--"
"Shhh. Don't strain your voice. Just close your eyes and perk your ears."
With no idea what to expect, she did as he asked, and heard him pick up his guitar.
He strummed a pretty melody she wasn't familiar with, then began to sing a beautiful song about feeling safe and loved and truly understood.
By the second verse, Buffy realized it was a song about her.
After she'd mentioned the song he'd written about Lilah, Lindsey had spent the weekend writing a song about her.
He didn't notice that she was sobbing until he'd put down his guitar.
Read on... >>
A NOTE ABOUT PLAGIARISM: Don't do it. Call me crazy, but I don't like finding my hard work pasted into other people's stories. If I find out you've plagiarized me or any other author, I will make sure everyone knows it. If you're not clear on what 'plagiarism' means, the definition is here.
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