seasonal_spuffy / Fic: Christmas Presents in Cleveland

Well, the day's already half over, so I guess I should get cracking and post something already! Here's a bit of revamped fic (no pun intended) and later I'll be posting a photo story. Really hope you enjoy.

Medium: Fic/AU
Title: Christmas Presents in Cleveland
Author:

fer1213
Rating: Good, clean fun for all.
Disclaimer: Not mine, though how I wish they were!
Summary: Post-Chosen, Buffy and Dawn try to find the holiday spirit.

Christmas Presents in Cleveland

“Is that a Christmas tree?” Dawn asked.

Buffy tightened the screws on the base to hold the tree upright. Once she got it steady, she stood and brushed stray needles from her jeans. “Yeah. What? You don’t like?” she asked Dawn.

Dawn put her hands on her hips and looked at the tree with a critical eye. “It’s kind of Charlie Brownish, isn’t it? And are we even allowed to have a live tree in the apartment?”

Buffy sat down on the beige carpet and started opening boxes of brand new multicolored balls. “The manager saw me drag it in and didn’t say anything about it.”

“That’s because he’s got a major crush on you.” Dawn sat down next to Buffy and dug through a bag of metal ornament hooks. She untangled a few and handed them to Buffy.

“You think every guy has a crush on me,” Buffy replied, rolling her eyes. "Maybe we should string popcorn and those little berry thingies."

"Deadly nightshade?" Dawn asked.

"Har har. Cranberries."

Dawn put her hand on Buffy’s arm. “Hey, thanks."

"For?"

Dawn shrugged. "For trying."

Buffy smiled slightly. "We need something normal. Normal for us, anyway," she said. The past six months, ever since Sunnydale had become a gigantic sinkhole, had been tough on both of them. Cleveland and its somewhat tamer Hellmouth had seemed like the next logical step for the sisters, but it was a pretty lonely step since Xander had stayed in California and Willow and Giles had returned to England to try to reorganize the Council. They all talked on the phone and emailed, but it could never be the same. Still, even though she and Dawn would be spending Christmas alone, Buffy was grateful they could celebrate anything at all.

Buffy hung the ball on a bottom branch. "Hence the buying of tree and cookies. To put us in the Christmasy mood.”

“You want to bake cookies?” Dawn asked, shocked.

“God, no!” Buffy answered. “I bought some from that bakery around the corner. I wanted to be able to actually eat the cookies.”

Dawn sighed in relief. Buffy, Dawn, baking—unmixy things.

Buffy handed one box of ornaments to Dawn and picked up another for herself. “Let’s decorate,” she said.

The girls were quiet as they hung the glittery balls on the tree. Thoughts of her mom filled Buffy's head--like how she always put that big angel on the top of the tree every year. The angel that was lost along with all the hundreds of other physical memories of Joyce. It wasn't until Dawn handed her a Kleenex that Buffy realized she was crying.

“Thinking about mom?” Dawn asked gently.

Buffy nodded as she wiped her face. “It still feels like we lost her twice, you know? At least we had pictures and notes that she wrote and the house that still felt of her. That’s one of the hardest things, don’t you think? Not having anything of hers?”

Dawn blew her nose noisily into her own Kleenex. “Yeah. There are so many things I wish I had packed before… But none of us knew the whole town would collapse. I thought for sure we’d be going back home, you know, after.”

"I miss a lot of things," Buffy said quietly.

Dawn wondered if Buffy was thinking about Spike. She never talked about him. In fact, the only thing Buffy had said in the months since he died was that it was Spike and the amulet that had saved them all. Dawn had opened her mouth countless times to ask what exactly happened down in that cavern, but since even a casual mention of Spike had Buffy changing the subject, she'd never actually done it.

“What do you miss?” Dawn asked now.

Buffy stared at the ornament in her hand. “Hey, we forgot to put the lights on first. We need lights before we put these things on.”

“Buffy.”

Buffy glanced at her sister and saw the determined look in Dawn’s eyes.

“Don’t you think it’s finally time you talked about it?” Dawn asked.

“Will it make the hurt go away?” Pain crossed Buffy’s face as she asked the question.

Dawn gestured at the couch. “Sit. I’ll get the cookies. We’ll talk.”

Buffy sat down heavily and rested her head on the back of the couch. Soon Dawn came back from the kitchen with a plate of brightly decorated Christmas cookies and two glasses of milk. She put them on the coffee table in front of Buffy and sat down next to her.

“Tell me and we’ll see if it helps,” Dawn said, picking up a star and biting into it.

Buffy frowned. "He was supposed to be different. With the soul, I mean. And he was, what with the craziness and the guilt. But essentially? He was still Spike. I didn't expect that."

“Because Angel is so completely different with and without his soul?” Dawn asked. When Buffy nodded, she continued, “Well, we all knew Spike wasn’t your typical vampire."

"True," Buffy agreed. "He was a much bigger pain in the ass than most."

Dawn smiled. "You never staked him, Buffy. I think that says something big."

"He got his soul--for me, Dawnie. That said something even bigger." She took a deep breath. "Then the First took him. And after we got him back, I had all these feelings I didn’t know what to do with. I don't know. Maybe they were feelings I’d always had but didn't want to see.” She shook her head a little. “Whatever. He didn’t believe me anyway.”

Dawn handed Buffy a frosted Santa and took a sip of milk before asking the big question. “What exactly happened between you two before you left him in the Hellmouth?”

Buffy looked at the cookie, but didn't eat it. “I felt his soul," she finally said. "I asked him to leave with me. And I told him I loved him.”

“You told him you loved him and he didn’t leave with you? That doesn’t sound like Spike at all.”

Buffy shrugged. “He didn’t believe me. I let myself say the words, and he didn’t believe me. Plus, he wasn’t doing it just for me, in the end."

Dawn squeezed Buffy's hand. “I think he did believe you, Buffy. I think he just wanted you to get out of there—to get to safety.”

"I tell myself that a lot. Sometimes I’m seriously tempted to wish for a second chance, but we know wishing out loud can be of the very not good.” She laughed a little. “Damn men. Always leaving me.”

Buffy set the cookie back on the plate and stood up. “Okay, enough brooding. Let’s spread a little holiday cheer. Help me put these pain-in-the-butt lights on the tree and then we’ll go battle the crowds and this weird thing called snow to do a little Christmas shopping, okay?”

Dawn swallowed the last bite of her cookie and brushed the crumbs off her sweater. “Sound very cheery,” she said. She was pushing herself up from the couch when the phone rang. “I’ll get it.”

Dawn crossed the room to grab it before it went to voice mail. “Hello?" she said. "Who? Oh! Yeah, I remember Willow mentioning you, Fred. Yeah, okay. She’s right here.” She held the phone out to Buffy, covering the mouthpiece with one hand. “Buffy, it’s Fred, the girl who works with Angel?”

“Angel gave her our phone number? What for?” Buffy asked, taking the phone from her sister.

“She says she has something important to tell you. And someone you need to talk to.”

Buffy raised the phone to her ear. “Fred? Hi, this is Buffy. You wanted to tell me something?” She was quiet, listening. Then Dawn saw the color leave her cheeks.

"Spike?" Buffy said. "Is that really you?"

END

cold

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Flat / Top-Level Comments Only

- Posted by

sandy-s.livejournal.com

Awwwww...lovely Christmas stuffs! :o) Perfect! Thanks for sharing... :o)

- Posted by

spuffy for the seasons: now on DW

Fic: Christmas Presents in Cleveland

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