Chapter 3

"You want to take Spike outside?" Giles asked, raising his eyebrow. "Look, he's going to go crazy if you keep him all tied up," Swan said. "Well... ok. You may take him out at 9pm but have him back by 12. I still him under my watch full eye. We never did get to do that spell" Giles said. "Big bad has a curfew. This is a weird town" Swan laughed but agreed with Giles and headed back into the living room. "I bring good news," Swan said, sitting on the couch across from Spike. "What?" Spike looked up at her. "I can bring you outside at 9" Swan smiled. "How'd you convince them?" Spike asked, astonished. "I pouted and rolled on my belly" Swan joked, a huge grin on her face. "Wish I could've been there" Spike retorted, smirking. "I'm serious, how'd you do it?" Spike added, suddenly becoming serious. "I'm very convincing" Swan winked in reply. A few hours later, Swan returned to her apartment to get ready for the night. Her apartment was reasonably big. It was an open plan except for the bathroom that was closed off for obvious reasons. It's living area had a couch and an armchair laid out in front of a small tv. There was a huge cream coloured carpet spread across the living area. A few feet away from the living room, there was a decent, modern kitchen that was sectioned off by an island countertop. 6 feet away from the living area, there was a double bed, a small vanity with a chair pulled into it, and a wardrobe. To the side of the bedroom, there was a bathroom. She had a shower and pulled out her leather pants, a black tank top and her Doc Martens from her closet and put them on. She then moved towards her vanity and put her silver cross necklace and her silver, studs on. 'I guess that'll work' Swan thought, looking at herself in the mirror. 'Oh! It's almost 9!' she realised, looking down at her watch. She grabbed her black leather jacket and ran out the door.

She arrived at Giles' apartment and knocked on the door. "Hello, Swan" Giles's said, opening the door. "Hey, Giles!" Swan beamed. "Come in, come in," Giles said, opening the door fully so Swan could step in. She glanced around the room and noticed Spike lounging on the couch, untied. It had been the first time Swan had ever seen him untied. He now had a black leather duster that went below the knees. 'He definitely doesn't look...unpleasant to look at' Swan thought for a moment before pushing her thoughts aside and skipping over to Spike. "Hey blondie," she said, sitting down beside him on the brown, leather couch. "Told you I hated that name" Spike scowled. "And I told you I didn't care" Swan grinned, loving the annoyed look on his face. "That you did" Spike softened, the look on her face completely disarming him. "Anyway, you ready?" Swan asked. "Yeah," Spike said, standing up, followed by Swan. "Bye Giles" Swan shouted back into the apartment as she walked out with Spike. "So, where'd you wanna go?" Swan asked as they walked down the street. "Just happy to be out, Luv" Spike replied. "Well, I haven't seen much of this town" Swan shrugged, glancing around the area, the full moon lighting up the night sky. "Well, there's always the graveyard," Spike said. "Ok," Swan said, and Spike leads her to the graveyard. They arrived at the graveyard in 10 minutes and started to walk around. Swan had brought a stake in case any vampires came out to play. "So, do we just walk around looking creepy?" Swan asked after a while, hugging herself as a clod breeze hit her. "Well, what else did you have in mind?" Spike replied, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know. But this is boring" Swan grumbled. Just then, a group of vampires came out of the shadows and charged at them. "Not what I had in mind" Swan muttered, kicking one of the vampires in the stomach and knocking it down. Spike, as much as he hated it, stood frozen, not being able to fight back. While Swan ran over to stake the vampire that was lying on the floor, the other two vampires came up behind her and grabbed her by the arms. "Oh, shit" Swan said to herself, trying to get out of the vampires' grasp. The one lying on the floor now got up and walked over to Swan, who was still trying to break free of the vampires' grasp. Spike's eyes filled with terror as he saw the third vampire approach Swan, ready to snap her neck. "Screw it" Spike muttered, figuring a migraine would be worth saving Swan's life and ran over to the third vampire and snapped its neck. The other two were so shocked by Spike's appearance, they loosened their grip on Swan ever so slightly, giving her enough strength to get free of their grasp and stake them both through the heart. Once they were dust, Swan quickly turned to Spike, expecting him to be holding his head in pain after snapping that vampire's neck. "Are you ok?" Swan said, running over to him. "Yeah. I think so." Spike said, a little confused at why his head wasn't exploding right now. "But the chip-" Swan started. "I guess it doesn't work on demon" Spike mused. Swan thought for a moment. 'Or maybe it doesn't work at all' Swan thought for a moment. "Hit me" Swan ordered bluntly. Spike started to protest. "No, why would I-" "Just do it!" Swan rolled her eyes. Spike shrugged and punched her in the noise. The minute Spike fist contacted Swan's face, he bounced back in pain, his hands clutching his head. Swan felt a bit of pain, but not as much as Spike did when he hit her. Within an instant, Swan was at Spike's side. "Sorry," Swan apologised for making him hit her. "It's ok. Now we know it still works" Spike replied, removing his hands down from his face. "You ok?" Swan asked worried, her left hand lightly brushing off his arm in a sign of comfort. "I'm ok" Spike nodded, letting Swan help him up from the ground. They continued to walk for a bit in silence before Swan turned to face him, suddenly remembering something. "Oh! Thanks for saving me. Didn't know you cared" she said. "Me? I don't care. Just didn't want the bloody Scoobies to think I did it and stake me is all" Spike defended himself, clearly lying through his teeth. "Uh-huh" Swan replied sarcastically, a giggle escaping her lips. "What! I'm telling the bloody truth!" Spike frowned. "Of course, you are. You're the big bad" Swan joked. Spike mock growled making Swan laugh harder but didn't push further and continued walking. After a while of walking around Spike turned and looked at Swan. "We best be getting back," he said. "Oh, right. It's almost 12" Swan looked down at her watch. The two walked back in silence until they got back to Giles' apartment. "I'll see you tomorrow," Swan said as Spike opened the door. "Right" Spike nodded. "'Night blondie" Swan grinned and turned to walk away. "'Night snow" Spike replied with his own pet name he chose for her. "Snow?" Swan asked, turning around, and raising an eyebrow. "Well, I figured since swans are supposed to be white as snow. Plus, you've got that whole 'Snow-white' thing going for ya with the whole 'ebony' hair, 'pale skin' and the 'red lips'." Spike replied. "Snow" Swan repeated. "I like it" she added, smiling, and walking away and back to her apartment. Spike watched her as she walked out of his sight before turning around and heading back into Giles' apartment.

A few days later, Swan was at Giles' apartment, sitting on the couch with Spike, who was telling her about the first Slayer he killed during the Boxer Rebellion. Their conversation was cut short when Giles called Swan over to the kitchen. "I'll be right back," Swan said to Spike, before getting off the couch and walking to the kitchen. "Um, Swan, if it wouldn't be too much trouble... I need you to take Spike for a few days" Giles said. "How come?" Swan asked. "Well, I have a friend coming over and I would like us to be alone," Giles said almost blushing 'Almost... Giles doesn't blush... he just doesn't' Swan thought, correcting herself. Swan grinned. "Oh... ok, I'll take him to my apartment for a few days," she said. "Thank you, Swan," Giles said. Swan turned around and walked over to the couch and sat beside Spike. "What did Rupert want from you?" Spike asked when Swan sat down. "Oh, his 'friend' is coming over for a few days and he wants to be alone with her so you're staying at my apartment" Swan exclaimed. "Oh, ok. Fine by me" Spike replied. "Anyway, you were talking about the Boxer Rebellion" Swan remembered, and Spike started to pick up where he left off.

At 8 o'clock, Spike and Swan walked over to Swan's apartment given to her by the Council. Swan opened the door and walked in, throwing the key into the little bowl that sat on top of a small side table next to the door. "Um, Swan" Spike said, still standing outside the apartment, looking a bit embarrassed. "Yeah?" Swan asked, turning around to face him. "I uh, can't come in without an invite" Spike reminded her. "Oh, right! Come in Spike" Swan replied, and Spike walked through the threshold. "Um, I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch. If I knew you were coming sooner, I would've sorted something out" Swan said, pointing to the couch. "Fine by me, pet" Spike replied, walking over to the couch. "Good" Swan smiled in return. "Do you want anything? I'm going to make dinner in a minute, but I can get you some blood" Swan offered. "Thanks, pet" Spike replied. Nodding, Swan walked into her small kitchen and put a packet of blood she got from her freezer into the microwave. Then she took out some spaghetti from the cupboard, put it into a pot, and started to boil it over a hob. After a few minutes, the microwave made a 'ding' noise, so Swan grabbed a mug and poured the blood into it. "Here you go," Swan said, handing over the mug to Spike. "Thanks, snow" Spike said, taking the mug from her hand. Swan walked back over to the kitchen as Spike finished his blood. When he was finished, he looked over to see Swan struggling to open the jar of red pesto. "You need any help?" he asked, a huge grin on his face. "No, I got it!" Swan replied, scrunching up her face as she continued to struggle with the lid of the jar. Eventually, the lid popped off and her face lit up. "Yay!" she beamed, jumping up and down while pouring the pesto into the pot of past. Spike looked at her in adoration as she beamed brightly. Finally, she sat beside him and ate her spaghetti.

An hour later Swan went into the bathroom the get ready from bed. When she exited the bathroom, she was dressed in a white vest and white tracksuit pants. She then proceeded to go over to the closet a few feet away from her bed and got out a blanket and a pillow. "Here" Swan said, handing the blanket and the pillow to Spike. "Thanks" Spike nodded, taking off his coat and hit boots and setting them on the floor next to the couch. Swan switched off the light and walked over to her bed that was a few metres away from the living area and got into it. "Goodnight blondie" she said to the dark room. "Night snow" Spike replied. A few minutes later they were both fast asleep.