Cheekbones {a btvs Spike story Buffy}

Chapter 9 - Bewitched

Amber knocks twice on the wooden door to Willow's house. She prays that she's in. She waits for a minute, and just as she's about to give up and leave, the door swings open.

"Hey Amber!"

"Oh, hi Tara! Is Willow in?"

"She's just gone out to the Magic Box because we ran out of some herbs." Tara gives her a soothing smile, "Are you ok? Do you need anything? Come in, please."

She backs into the hallway and goes into the living room. Amber follows, accidently trailing mud onto the carpet. She curses and slips off her boots. 

"Thanks Tara. I -." she pauses, "I just need to talk to someone really."

Tara gives her a sympathetic look before Amber carries on, "It's not bad or anything. Well maybe it is. Anyway, its magic related and I feel you and Willow will be the most understanding." She laughs humourlessly , "I mean - I know exactly what Buffy would say. And Xander... He would kill me."

"Amber, you're scaring me. Are you ok?" she asks again.

"No, no, I'm fine..." she waves a hand dismissively,  "It's just..."

 "Wait a second." Tara gets up and rushes into the kitchen. She returns shortly with two glasses of milk and a plate of delicious-looking cookies. She encourages her to continue.  

She tells Tara about the spell she did last night, careful not to mention what had happened before hand. Tara is a great listener, and only responds when Amber has finished.

"I think you did the spell right... I don't see why Spike's aura was pink. It is strange. Amber, please be careful with any magic that you do. If you need help in the future, I'm always here to give you tips or anything."

"I know, I know." Amber grabs a cookie and takes a big bite. The chocolate chips melt on her tongue, and she washes it down with the milk. "Yummy." she remarks.

"Homemade." Tara grins.

"There's also something else I haven't mentioned yet." she stops. "Spike has kind of... been acting different."

"In what way?"

"Well," Amber undoubtedly needs to get this off her chest but it feels weird to say, "I was hurt out patrolling one day, and he was actually nice and caring and... He keeps looking at me strangely. Yesterday, even, I was getting a drink and he creeps up behind me and -"

The click of a lock turning interrupts her train of thought as Willow opens the door with her elbow, a paper bag clutched in each hand. 

"Hey babe, I may have gone a little over budget but they had these cute little - Amber! Hi!"

She sets the bags down on the coffee table and joins the pair on the sofa. "Sorry for interrupting. Amber, it's great to see you. How have you been?"

"Pretty good, Willow, thank you." Tara's face twitches, as if urging Amber to tell Willow what happened. "How about you?"

Willow babbles about her recent activities, while Amber zones out, wishing she could finish talking to Tara.

"That's great Willow, I'm happy you're happy. I best be off, I promised I'd meet up with Xander - Star Wars marathon!" she lies, absentmindedly twisting a strand of her hair. 

She gets up and heads into the hall. Amber hears Tara quietly say something to Willow and she appears around the door. 

"Amber, I think you should be wary of Spike. By the sounds of it, he may be up to something. Or he knows something you don't. Stay safe, ok?"