While She Sleeps

One

I shouldn't be doing this. I know how creepy this is. This sort of thing is more up Captain Forehead's alley. That should be reason enough for me to stop and leave, but I can't. I can't pull my eyes away from the Slayer's face as she peacefully sleeps in her bed. At least I have one thing on my grand-sire. I'm, at least, watching her from the doorway, rather than through her window. Honestly, what kind of perv just watches a girl sleep? I'd also like to mention the fact that when he did it, Buffy was severely underage.

What has the Slayer done to me? Even before this bloody chip was in my head, I couldn't hurt a hair on her head, not seriously, of course. Sure, we had our fights here and there, and then there was that one time when I showed up with a shotgun, but I always knew I'd never be able to end her. Drusilla knew that before I did. She knew I'd end up choosing the Slayer.

"The sunshine will take my darkness away." She'd say after every encounter with Buffy. I always thought she was talking about Buffy dusting her, or honestly, I thought she was just talking about the literal sun taking turning night into day. The woman is completely off her rocker. It took decades for me to just understand half of the nonsense that spewed out of her mouth.

I latched on to Dru when my heart was broken. A beautifully insane woman speaking to me as if I was worth more than what Cecily spewed at me. After the events with my mum, I didn't have anyone else. My world was Drusilla, solely because she was the only woman, other than my pre-vampiric mother, who treated me like I was worth something. Drusilla would sleep with whatever powerful demon she pleased, Angelus included, and I'd still welcome her back with open arms. Lucky for me, vampires don't exactly have to worry about STDs. But that's not to say that every time she ran off with a new bloody demon, my undead heart didn't break more and more. 

What I never could've expected was the Slayer, herself, to be the cause of the biggest crack in that still, undead organ in my chest. With every night we spent together, my feelings for her grew. I knew she wanted nothing more than a distraction, but I couldn't help what I felt. It's why I had that knobhead build me that bloody Buffy Bot. When the Slayer was done with me, I still got that love and companionship that I desperately craved. I could never look in its eyes, though. Each time I did, I could tell it was just a robot, not the bloody girl that had plagued my dreams for years.

A noise snaps me out of my trance. I look back towards the bed and notice that Buffy is getting restless in her sleep. Another nightmare, no doubt. She's been having horrible ones during the few hours of sleep she's gotten since Glory got ahold of Little Bit. Without thinking, I walk over to her and sit on the edge of the bed and place my hand on her cheek.

"It's alright, pet." I whisper, gently pressing my lips to her forehead. "Everything will be alright."

When she seems to relax, I reluctantly walk back towards the hallway, thinking I'd better get some sleep before the world possibly ends tomorrow. Whatever happens, I'll protect her. I have to protect them both.

As much as I hate to admit it, Buffy's family had become the closest thing I had to a real family. When Joyce passed, it took all of my strength not to storm down to the hospital and snap the neck of the doctor that obviously wasn't competent enough to keep Joyce alive more than a few months after her surgery. The only thing that stopped me was knowing that Joyce would find a way to kill me with an axe, despite having already crossed over. I knew I had to protect those damn Summers girls the way I wasn't able to protect their mother. I'm going to make sure Buffy and Little Bit survive the next 48 hours. They have to.

As I'm about to close Buffy's bedroom door, I hear her mutter something under her breath. I turn to make sure I hadn't woken her.

"Spike...." she mutters again before rolling over onto her stomach.

I let out a chuckle. "Goodnight, love." I say quietly, closing the door behind me.