Backfire - Spander Files

affection as much as possible. You find yourself interested in the same things that
he is. You want him to like you too, so you show him the ways you two can be
together. Show him the ways that you aren’t all that different. It’s human nature.”
“What am I going to do?”
“There aren’t any rules for this, as you once told me. No self-help books. The
likelihood of an evil vampire and a human falling for each other, well that’s about
as likely as an ensouled vampire and vampire slayer falling for each other.
Unprecedented.”
Xander finally looked up from his mug. He smiled, but it faded quickly.
“How long have you been following us?”
“Since just after Christmas.”
Okay. A few days after the incident with Cindy. Cindy. He was a little surprised
that he remembered her name. He made it a point to not think about her that much.
He wondered how long it would take him to give over to Spike’s urges again. And
he wondered why he was able to stop Spike from killing these past few weeks, but
why he couldn’t, or didn’t, stop him that night with Cindy. It made his brain hurt.
He didn’t share any of this with Angel.
“You tell Buffy?”
“I told you I wasn’t stupid.”
“Does Spike know?”
“I’m pretty good at tracking Spike without his knowledge. I did it for years when he
was a fledge. Was always getting himself into scrapes with the wrong demons. Or
the authorities. Never very good at cleaning up after himself.”
“Sounds like him.” Xander knew he had a goofy smile on his face, but he couldn’t
make it stop. “Still, though…not sure how I feel, knowing you’re right there over
my shoulder all the time.”