Story [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] Anywhere - Spike/Buffy Post-series

Title: Anywhere
Author Abby
Pairing Spike/Buffy
Setting Several years post-series
Summary: Buffy returns to California for the first time in years, and encounters more of her past than she ever expected.
Disclaimer: I don?t own ?em. I?m just borrowing them for a while.
Author?s Note: Fluffy and unbeta?d. Just something I scrawled in the spur of the moment and quite possibly the shortest fic I?ve ever written. Not a lot of thought behind this one.


Anywhere

*~*

It was purely by chance that she happened to glance in that direction at the exact moment he stepped through the doorway leading into the busy café. The place was crowded, full to the brim with laughing, chattering people of all descriptions, enjoying the night and the warmth that persisted after dark and the light, refreshing breeze that carried with it the scent of the ocean. Southern California in late spring was something she hadn?t even realized she?d missed until she?d returned to it in all its glory. Sitting on the patio at the far side of the courtyard beneath an enchanting string of paper lanterns, Buffy sipped her iced coffee and cooled her bare feet on the stone tile beneath the table, observing the people around her in their carefree enjoyment, revelling in the overwhelming nostalgia of returning to her roots for the first time in years.

She wasn?t entirely certain what made her turn her head around to look toward the open café door behind her. It wasn?t her slayer senses; there were plenty of vampires out and about tonight ? including the one at the next table over devouring a jelly donut and frappuccino ? but thus far none of them had made any trouble and she?d promised herself that she?d not intervene until one of them started flashing some fang. So it wasn?t the tinglies that made her look, but something much more divine than that.

No matter the reason, she had looked, and in that instant, she?d known. Though she?d caught only the briefest of glimpses before he disappeared into the building, and the light brown curls and blue jeans were foreign to her eyes, Buffy had known immediately that it was him.

She would know him anywhere.

Even, apparently, back from the dead.

Head buzzing, heart thundering urgent, terrifying hope, Buffy rose from her seat, feeling almost dreamlike as she slipped her feet into her flip-flops and moved slowly toward the entrance, weaving her way through tables and around people she barely noticed. Her vision narrowed to the dark opening in the white-bricked façade in the distance, her brain telling her simultaneously that he was dead, it wasn?t him, but that it could be no one else.

She felt him the moment she rounded the final table; that special tingle at the back of her neck, somehow wholly different from any other vampire, something she?d never thought she?d feel again. It sent a thrill of anticipation down her spine and a wave of panic through her chest. It was really him . . . and she had no idea what that meant.

Shaking now, Buffy moved through the doorway, standing just inside a moment, blinking, adjusting her eyes to the brighter light indoors and scanning the interior. The tingles had grown stronger now, but she couldn?t see him. Running her hand along the painted brick of the half wall, Buffy moved deeper into the café, eyes darting to every table, scrutinizing each dark corner. A shiver ran up her spine and she stopped, mid-stride.

A soft gasp sounded from behind her, followed by a quiet, unmistakable rumbling, and she turned in the suddenly thickened air, moving as if in slow motion, to face the source of the sounds.

Spike?s face was a mixture of surprise and reverent awe, lips parted, familiar blue eyes wide and astonished beneath a head of unruly, unfamiliar curls. If he hadn?t been a vampire, Buffy knew his heart would be pounding as violently as hers.

She didn?t know how long he had been back, or why, but clearly he?d never expected to see her again.

?Buffy . . .? he breathed, just as her own whispered, ?How?? floated into the air

 

Aww, that was really sweet!!

 

Thank you!

 

That was wonderful. I always wondered what might have happened with Spike and Buffy if things had worked out in their favor.

 

Oh, so did I! Thanks for reading, I'm glad that you liked it.