A New Year

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Summary: Willow wakes on New Years Day concerned about her best friend and facing the horror of televised bowl games all day. Set right after "Wine Coolers..."

AUTHOR: Laure Alexander
EMAIL: lara@sunflower.com
RATING: PG-14
PAIRINGS: Spike/Willow
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters on the show. Joss Whedon and the WB Network own them (for now). No copyright infringement intended, so please don't sue.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Trina on SG put out a challenge a couple weeks ago: Angelus, B/S, "bibbidi...", Pinnochio song, the Zeppo car, Faith, railroad spike, snow, ringing phone that no one wants to answer, "mumbo...".
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Willow woke slowly from a sweet yet extremely erotic dream in which she had been Cinderella and Spike had been the handsome prince, but instead of a glass slipper, he had been trying to find out which woman fit a glass railroad spike shaped vibrator.

"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo takes on a whole new meaning," she muttered as she blinked into the gloom of her room. She wondered why it was so dark, then remembered, and smiled, turning onto her side.

Spike lay sound asleep beside her, a pillow over his face.

"Good thing you don't need to breathe. Happy New Year, love," she whispered, lifting one corner of the pillow and kissing him on the cheek.

When he didn't stir, she sighed and slipped from the bed. Picking up a t-shirt, she pulled it over her head, then headed for the bathroom.

A half hour later, showered and dressed in a pair of wool ankle socks and the t-shirt, which proclaimed that 'Rap Sucks', she returned to the bedroom to find Spike sitting up against the headboard, smoking a cigarette. At her glare, he had the grace to look guilty, but didn't put it out.

She continued to glare.

"Oh, come on, pet. Your parents won't be back till tomorrow night. We'll just open the window later."

Sighing Willow went over to the French doors and peeked through the heavy, dark blinds. "I don't believe this. Are we going to get snow on every holiday this year?" She stared in surprise at the huge flakes fluttering down from the gray sky.

"Might as well have stayed in New York," Spike muttered.

Willow shot him a look and asked with sugary sweetness, "Did someone drink too much at the party last night?"

Spike flipped her off and she giggled. "I'll go make some coffee, you big baby. Between you and Buffy you drank all the wine coolers."

"I did not drink something that poofish," he protested.

"Got the pictures to prove it," she chortled, skipping out the door.

*****

A pot of coffee later, Spike began to feel civilized. Sitting at the kitchen table in a pair of jeans, watching Willow putter around cleaning up after brunch, he felt a sense of utter peace and contentment. He silently snorted to himself and accepted that he was completely whipped by a feisty red haired teenager.

He was also growing extremely randy as he watched her breasts shift enticingly beneath one of his old t-shirts.

"When is your scooby gang coming over to watch football?"

"Oh, not for about four hours."

Spike grinned wolfishly and rose to his feet. As Willow was washing up the last pan, she didn't sense him behind her until he scooped her off his feet and bounded down the hallway to her room.

As he deposited her on her bed, Willow grinned up at him and raised up on her elbows. "I'm guessing your hangover is gone?"

Spike just smirked and flicked open the buttons of his jeans.

*****

Much, much later Willow lay in Spike's arms, telling him about her dream, ending by singing, "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are."

"Wrong movie. That's from Pinnochio."

Willow lifted her head and stared down at her lover. "And you know this how?"

Spike's eyes shifted away from her and he tried to distract her by sliding one hand over her bottom, but she continued to stare at him, one eyebrow arched, until he grumbled, "Drusilla has the whole sodding collection of videos."

"Me too," Willow giggled. "Something we can bond over." She ignored Spike's look of horror and continued, "There's a Disney store in the mall. We can go shopping."

"You come home wearing mouse ears and..." Suddenly he grinned and dragged her across him. "Remember the last time you wore mouse ears?"

As she squirmed on top of him, she gave him a puzzled look and shook her head.

"We did this," he murmured, tugging her mouth down to his.

As they kissed, the phone began to ring...and ring...and ring."

"Fucking hell, why isn't the machine picking up?" Spike cursed.

Willow shrugged, then a panicky look crossed her face. "What if it's my parents?"

"Don't care." He flipped her onto her back, crawling between her legs.

The phone continued to ring, and Spike finally settled on his knees, sighing and nodding. Willow grabbed the receiver and put it to her mouth. "Hello?"

"I knew you'd be there," Buffy said. "Sorry if I interrupted." She didn't sound at all sorry, but Willow just sighed softly and mouthed 'Buffy' to Spike.

He muttered various curse words as he flopped onto his back next to her.

"Are you okay, Buffy? You had a lot to drink last night," Willow said gingerly.

Buffy groaned. "Don't mention booze. You will not believe what Angel did to me." And she proceeded to tell her best friend everything--going to the mansion, yelling at Angelus, passing out, him giving her the ultimatum of blow job or a bottle of whisky, choosing, puking. Willow cringed and comforted, growing more and more angry.

After hanging up, Willow turned to Spike and opened her mouth.

"What did the prick do this time?" Spike asked knowingly and sighing.

"Angelus is a pig," she snapped, totally out of the mood. Rising to her feet, she relayed Buffy's tale as she dressed, ending with, "I can't believe she stayed with him. She said that once her hangover was gone they had mind-blowing sex. How can she let him humiliate her like that and then stay just for sex?"

Spike didn't answer, just let her rant and get the anger out of her system. There was nothing he could say that would help her understand. He just prayed she never faced the same situation.

*****

Xander and Cordelia arrived first for the party in a vintage, pale blue convertible.

Unfortunately, it was still snowing and Cordelia was glaring at the world as she stormed into the house, Xander trailing behind her apologizing.

"How was I supposed to know it would snow, and, why did your car have to go into the shop on a holiday weekend, and since your dad's out of town, we could have taken his jag...or maybe not," he mumbled after she turned her evil eye on him. "Uncle Rory swore the top worked." He gave his girlfriend a lame look.

"I can make you some cocoa," Willow offered.

Cordelia looked at her, then looked at Spike.

"How about I make hot toddies instead," he said with a smirk.

As he headed towards the bar, Buffy walked into the house, shaking the snow from her hair, and Willow went to her immediately, gesturing for Cordelia to join them.

*****

Several hours later, everyone was warm and cozy. Xander had thawed and relaxed enough to drink beer with Spike and discuss the game. The girls were ignoring the football and waiting for the half-time extravaganzas as they heated up hot wings and chili in the kitchen.

"How come we get stuck in here cooking?" Cordelia complained.

"Because we don't know the mumbo jumbo that is football," Buffy answered, and the other two girls nodded.

"Is this enough food?" Willow asked.

"Maybe for those two out there, but aren't Giles and Ms. Calendar coming?" Cordelia asked..

Buffy gave her a startled look, then glanced at the clock. "You're right. I know I told him three o'clock. It's after five." She picked up the phone and dialed his home number. On the seventh ring, he picked it up.

"Oh, Buffy. I'm sorry. Yes, I was meaning to call you. I've had some news from the council," Giles said slowly.

"They're firing me?" Buffy quipped.

Giles cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to do this over the telephone, but I have several arrangements to make and..."

Buffy quickly grew concerned and asked, "What is it, Giles?"

"I'm sorry, Buffy, but the council has decided that since you seem to be...struggling with your duties, both slayers need to be on the Hellmouth. Since Kendra's death last summer, the new Slayer, a girl named Faith, and her Watcher have been living in Boston, but they are flying in to Los Angeles tomorrow. I've been making arrangements..."

"Oh," Buffy murmured. "This isn't good, is it." She sank down into a chair at the kitchen table.

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment, then Giles said, "No," and told her he would talk to her the next day.

Buffy hung up and stared up at her friends. "We are so screwed."

End