------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary: Spike unknowingly interferes with a warlock's spell casting, which angers the sorceror. He places a curse on Spike which causes the vampire to lose all memory of his life after being turned. *Set somewhere in season 5 before Spike admits his feelings for Buffy. And we know what Buffy thinks of Spike.*

A/N: Please Read Me, and even more so Review Me. I like knowing what you actually think!!

Disclaimer: Everyone bloody knows by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine by me.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

He drifted through the cemetery, his cemetery, feeling restless for some reason or the other. He wanted to see her just to see her, but wasn't in the mood for the usual banter to occur between them this night. Usually, he lived to spur her on, to watch her boil over with deep-seeded anger and become flustered when she couldn't think of a hurtful come-back for him or a witty remark. Not tonight, he didn't seem to be in the mood for their usual playful fights. Some times he resented poking fun at her and tonight was just one of those times. What a dolt he had become.

The feelings he had been having as of late were eating at him, from the inside out. He felt himself changing, and wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He wanted to do good, help others.

'Eugh,' he shivered, 'did I, the Big Bad, just think that?'

Yes, of course, he wanted to help the Slayer fight evil. He knew, though, deep down she would never take him seriously if he ever felt the need to mention this to her. Too much bad blood between them as of the present. Their past "rocky relationship" was always lurking around every corner and in every nook and cranny. She would think he was up to no good if he let it be known of his white hat intentions. Of course, anything he could possibly do to win her heart, now that was another matter altogether.

He stopped cold in his tracks. "Wait a tick, what's with that?"

A dark cloaked figure stood near a very large, ornate headstone, looming over something and chanting heaven knew what. Spike stealthily inched closer. He was saying words that seemed oddly familiar. Where had he heard that particular language before? It hit him suddenly. The creature was casting a spell. For what or on whom, he had no idea. Was it a demon? It stopped the chanting as if it sensed something and turned it's head to the side. No, it was a he, a human.

'A witch or rather---a warlock?' Yes, most definitely a warlock. Spike continued his prowl towards him and the warlock continued his mumbo jumbo.

Spike was close enough now to see more and noticed the warlock was standing over a human. A young human girl, to be precise. Without thinking, Spike shot out from behind a tombstone and lunged towards the sorcerer just as a white glow started to emit from his hands.

He hit him at fullforce, knocking the warlock to the ground, rolling with him a few times. Spike was in agony. The damn chip. Why couldn't the bloody stupid government give him the power to take out practising witches and warlocks if the occasion ever arose? Of course that question would remain unanswered while Spike lay sprawled out on his back on the ground, moaning and cursing the bleeding chip in his head.

"How dare you interrupt me---you---you imbecile," the warlock howled as he kicked Spike hard in the ribs.

Spike grunted, his gameface appearing out of habit and caused the other man to jump back a bit. The magician found himself intrigued that the vampire actually had not harmed him.

"You're a demon. A creature of the night. You have no business butting into my business. Find your food source somewhere else. Now begone." He waved his hand in the air, dismissing Spike with an arrogant flair.

Spike returned back to his human face, and chuckled at the man. He pushed himself up off the ground, dusting the grass and dirt off of his leather coat.

"It *is* my business if you're doing something I deem wrong or just plain out irritating. What's with the bird?"

The warlock whirled around, looking dumbfounded. He cocked his head to the side and stared at the vampire.

"What are you? Surely you're not a vampire if you are concerning yourself over a mere mortal. Unless of course you are trying to scare me off so that you can have a free meal. But I thought you types liked the hunt before the feast."

"I am *not* wanting to feast. I'm thinking you are the one who is in the wrong here."

"There's that word again. Wrong. Funny coming out of a vampire's mouth. What are you? Some noble knight of the night out to rescue damsels in distress? Intriguing scenario, I must say. Like I said, it is none of your business."

"I think the Slayer would beg to differ. She would take you out of this world without breaking a sweat. Buffy would do to you what I unfortunately can't do." Spike cringed inwardly, berating himself for letting his weakness slip out.

"Ohhh, I see now." The warlock grinned menacingly.

"What!? Just exactly what do you see, oh wise one?"

"You're trying to get in good with the Slayer so she won't kill you. Either that or your hoplessly in love with her, mooning over her and trying to put on a good show." He roared with a loud laugh causing Spike to growl. "She may be quick and powerful, but she can't touch me."

"Oh, I beg to differ. Buffy is---well, she's Buffy. She is the one and more than you'll ever want to know."

The warlock seemed to soften his tone a bit. "So that's it then. A vampire in love with a slayer. Color me crazy, but isn't that a bit--- eccentric? You know, in your vampire customs? Tell me something, does the slayer share these same feelings?"

Spike snorted. "The slayer doesn't even give me a second glance let along share my feelings. I think even if I was human again she wouldn't take notice of me. I was a weak, love sick, pitiful sap back then and I hated myself when I was human, such so she would just laugh in my face and why am I telling you this? Oh, Dr. Ruth, your 12 o'clock appointment has left the building."

Spike smirked, knowing the whole time the girl was regaining conciousness he tried his best to keep the warlock busy enough not to notice. He watched as she made her getaway.

The warlock spun quickly to find no trace of the young girl. He slowly turned back to the vampire, eyes glowing, fists clenching and unclenching. Spike glared at him. The warlock mumbled something unintelligable before returning to his normal self.

"What were all the lights and whistles for, mate? Throwing curses in my general direction?"

"Hmmm, I don't know. Possibly. Can never tell with us magic user types. I could have opened the hellmouth again for all you know. Or brought forth armegeddon. Why don't you run along and go tell your precious slayer. Let her do your battle for you."

"Oh you, I’ll---”

"Look, you interfered. You meddled in my business, causing me a major setback in my plans. I wasn't bothering you now, was I, yet you seemed to have bothered me. We'll see just how far you will get with your slayer. We'll see who gets the last laugh. By the way, I'd watch what you say to warlocks and witches. You may find yourself in a compromising position." The warlock began to chuckle as he started to walk away from Spike. "And who knows, maybe I will go open the hellmouth just to spite you and your slayer."

Spike looked on at the retreating man, feeling very insignificant at the moment. Confused and bewildered, not really knowing if he had been cursed somehow or just mentally put down, he turned and made his way out of the cemetery, heading to Revello Drive to see a slayer about a warlock.

TBC

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Summary: Spike unknowingly interferes with a warlock's spell casting, which angers the sorceror. He places a curse on Spike which causes the vampire to lose all memory of his life after being turned. *Set somewhere in season 5 before Spike admits his feelings for Buffy. And we know what Buffy thinks of Spike.*

A/N: Please Read Me, and even more so Review Me. I like knowing what you actually think!!

Disclaimer: Everyone bloody knows by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine by me.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

"It's 11 o'clock, aren't you tired yet? Buffy said around a yawn.

"No, not sleepy yet. Come on, Buffy, it's Friday night. Mom is out of town for a whole week. I wanna stay up late and watch tv and eat junk food til I make myself sick. You're the slayer, for pete's sake. You should be used to these late nights. You wimp."

Dawn glanced over to her sister, who was curled up in a sitting position, throw pillow wedged between her head and her knees, dozing.

"Oh my gosh, Buffy, a killer whale!" Dawn screamed pointing at the television, panic evident in her voice. Buffy jumped, ready to spring into action and protect her sister from---those---killer---whales.

"Wha?---brat." Buffy stuck her tongue out at her sister, which was returned back to her along with a pfftt sound. Buffy laid her head back on her cushioned knees and began to doze off once more. An urgent rap sounded on the front door. Buffy jumped again, thinking Dawn was up to something else. No, Dawn was sitting in her designated spot on the couch, looking over at Buffy with eyes as round as saucers. Never can be good when someone comes knocking on your door just before midnight.

Buffy grabbed the blanket off of the back of the couch. She was already dressed for bed in her yummy sushi pajamas and really didn't feel it neccessary to share them with the rest of the neighborhood. She slowly cracked the door to peer out, noticing an agitated bleached blonde vampire rocking back and forth on his feet. He raised his brows when she peeked out. Buffy pulled the door open but stood there barricading the entrance.

"So, not welcome, huh?" He asked with his devilish charm.

"Spike, do you realize what time it is? Normal people are in bed at this time of the night."

"Well, you said it love. Must not be categorizing yourself under the normal column."

"What *you* think. I was asleep, thank you so much." She whined grouchily.

"Oh you were not, Buffy. Maybe dozing but you were up."

Buffy turned her head to glare at her sister. "Thanks, Dawn."

Spike took that opportunity to slither under Buffy's outstretched arm that was still holding the door open.

"Thanks, luv. Hello, bit."

Buffy, clasping the corners of the blanket, threw her arms up, looked at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. Grumbling, she shut the door, turned around and crossed her arms wrapping the blanket around her tighter.

"Spike, your like a pimple that won't go away. No matter how many times I pop you, you still show back up."

He smirked at her again, hooking his thumbs in the front of his jeans. "You having a problem with hygiene matters, pet? You know you like having me around, Slayer. Just admit it for once. Oh, by the way, nice jammies."

He plopped down on the couch next to Dawn making himself comfortable, watching the telly and munching on her big bowl of buttered popcorn. Buffy went back to her seat on the couch, eyeing the menace who didn't seem to care that Buffy was miffed about his presence.

"Okay, I give. Why are you here, Spike?"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I ran into a character earlier in the cemetery. He was doing some kind of hocus pocus on a bird. I couldn't attack him, of course, being human and all that rot and why didn't the government give this bloody chip the ability to be able to tell evil humans from good ones?"

Buffy shrugged, "Human is as human does, I guess." She laid her head back down on the pillow.

"Anyway, I got him good. I kept him distracted while the girl woke up and ran off. Was he ever pissed. Started waving his hands in the air, pointing at me and throwing curses in my general direction."

Dawn sat forward suddenly, looking at the vampire in surprise.

"Spike, are you saying he put a curse on you?"

"I wouldn't worry so much, bit. I think it was all talk and all show. You know, witches and warlocks really like to throw you off with their fancy ramblings and lightshows. I'm fine. Nothing happened."

"Buffy, did you hear that? Spike may have been cursed by a warlock."

Buffy was actually trying to ignore the whole conversation in general. She lifted her head to look at her little sister. Spike didn't seem too concerned about it, so why should she?

"Dawnie, he said nothing happend. He's fine, in a rude, arrogant, obscene kind of way."

Spike turned to look at Buffy. He touched her cheek gently and smiled. "Cheeky. I didn't know you cared so much about me."

Buffy gave him a scrutinized smile. "Believe me, if I ever did, I would never admit to it, to you or anybody else."

"Aw, I love you, too, Slayer in a wretched, putrified kind of way." He made sure to add on the bit at the end as not to give away his innermost feelings.

She reached over and pinched his arm causing him to grab the area and yell out.

"So, I don't suppose you know what he was doing exactly with his spell casting to this innocent girl?"

"No, I mean I came right out and asked him. You'd think a bloke wouldn't have been so rude and at least given me some straight answers. But no, he called me an imbecile and tried to dismiss me, right arrogant bastard. Hey, I even tried to scare him with the likes of you, luv, but didn't phase him. Nope, not one bit. Even had the nerve to tell me to run along and warn the slayer that he may or may not open the hellmouth."

"Great. What did you do to him, Spike?" Buffy gave him a stern look.

"Me? I didn't do a bloody thing except try to stop the bugger."

"Oh right. I know you and your big mouth with it's cocky attitude. You said something to him, something to get him all riled, didn't you?"

Spike held up his hands in surrender. "No, I didn't say a thing. Well, except I maybe told him that the slayer was gonna have his head on a platter, or something to that effect. Told me I better watch what I say around witches and warlocks from now on. But hey, I saved the girl, in a matter of speaking. Kept him busy so she could get away."

"Well, congratulations. But what do you think the spell he threw at you was all about?"

"Piffle", he waved it off. "He was all puffed up trying to look and sound threatening. Wasn't anything to worry your pretty little head about."

He turned and looked at Dawn. "You either, lil bit.---Hey you got anything more substantial to snack on in that icebox of yours? This is birdfood." He held up the almost empty bowl of popcorn.

Dawn grabbed him by the arm and hauled him off the couch to head towards the kitchen. Buffy sighed. The two pals were laughing and talking in the other room. Sometimes she was envious of their good natured friendship. Spike always had a way to take Dawn's worries and cares away and he treated her with his utmost care. She wished for a friendship like that.

Dawn bounced back into the living room and right onto the couch. Buffy giggled and shook her head at her over-enthusiastic sister. Spike tagged along behind her just as the clock on the mantel struck midnight. Buffy yawned and stretched, telling them in yawnese goodnight. She slowly lifted herself up off the couch when she heard a strange sound coming from Spike. She looked up in his general direction. He looked odd. His face, if it could be, seemed much more pale, much more than usual. His mouth hung open slightly and his eyes were opened wide as if something had surprised him. His hands and legs began to shake. Concern washed over her. She had never seen him like this before.

"Spike, what's wrong with you?"

Dawn jumped up off the couch, her laughter faltering. "Buffy, something's wrong."

"So help me Spike, if you're faking, I'm going to hurt you all over." Buffy scolded him but to herself, she sounded more upset to the fact of the sick vampire.

"Slayer," he croaked. "Buffy, something's wrong. I-I don't feel---so well. I---." His eyes rolled up as he dropped his snack on the floor. Buffy ran towards him as darkness enveloped him. He heard Dawn scream his name before he lost all conciousness. Buffy reached him before he hit the floor, sliding across the remainder of the livingroom floor on her knees and reaching out both arms to soften the fall for him. He lay there very still while she looked over him for any signs why this vampire now lay supine in her arms.

TBC

Disclaimer: Everyone bloody knows by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Dawn was in hysterics, pacing the floor back and forth, back and forth. Buffy still held an unconscious Spike in her arms.

"Dawn,--- Dawn,---DAWNIE!" Buffy screamed.

"WHAT?" Dawn stopped cold in her tracks when she realized Buffy was trying to get her attention.

"Dawn, I need your help. We have to get Spike up off the floor and onto the couch. I'll get the top part, you grab his feet."

Buffy stood while hooking her arms under Spike's and Dawn lifted his legs up as they shuffled him over and not very gracefully laid him out on the sofa, both almost joining him in the process.

"Buffy, is he---dead?"

"Dawn, he has always been dead.---Or undead. Whatever. He's alive for an undead person. Otherwise, we'd be sweeping him up into the vacuum."

Dawn swatted her on the arm, gave her a nasty, hateful look and huffed.

"Don't be so mean.---So what do you think is wrong with him?"

Buffy leaned over and looked him over again, searching for any markings or injuries that could be visible. She straightened back up, placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"I have no idea. No clue what-so-ever."

Dawn snapped her fingers a couple of times and then shook her finger at her sister.

"Wait, wait. He said the warlock may have cursed him. Do you think that just maybe it was a curse that wasn't supposed to happen until later or until he did something to set it off?"

"Well, it was midnight when he passed out. Could be maybe it *was* a timed curse, you know, like in fairy tales? 'At the strike of midnight you will turn into a pumpkin' or something to that effect. I don't know. I think we should just go to bed and leave him here to sleep it off."

"You're not concerned if he happens to wake up in the middle of the night, all monsterish and attacks us in our sleep all grr and, and?"

"Dawnie, he's already a vampire, a monster so to speak. Besides, Spike already told you not to worry about it. He said it was nothing. So go, shoo, go on up to bed. I'll get the curtains closed and make sure he's all comfy. I'll keep my bedroom door open so I can hear him if he happens to come to." Buffy did her best reassurance speech to her little sister.

Dawn slowly ascended the stairs, glancing every once in a while over her shoulder to look at her friend on the couch, trying not to worry so much. Buffy pulled the curtains tight to make sure no morning sunlight could filter through it and placed the blanket over the vampire. She turned out the lights and headed to bed.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Buffy was the first one up in the morning. As she passed by the sofa, she glanced over to see if it was empty. He still lay there in the exact same position she left him in. Now Buffy was getting concerned, but she couldn't let Dawn know that she was. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his forhead, then moved it to the side of his face. He was still cool to the touch, so nothing to worry about in that area.

While Buffy was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, Dawn bounded down the stairs. Buffy walked back into the living room and saw her sister sitting on the floor next to the couch, holding the vampire's hand.

"Are you ok?" Buffy asked her sister.

She turned around still holding on to his hand, tears evident in her eyes.

"Buffy, what if something is seriously wrong? We need to do some research. Can we do research?" She gave Buffy her best sad puppy eyes.

"Yeah, sure we can. Maybe we can get Willow to look on the internet. I'll call her up and see if she can stop by the Magic Box and pick up some books to look through. Forget asking Xander. I know if he knew who we were helping, we'd have to listen to him rant and carry on." Buffy turned to go back into the kitchen to call her good friend. When she came back in, Dawn still sat by Spike.

"Willow said she would be happy to help. She should be here within the hour."

"Thank you, Buffy. This means a lot to me."

"I know it does. I guess I'm a little worried about him, too. Don't tell anybody, though." Buffy smiled and Dawn returned a sad smile.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Six hours later, they had hit a deadend. Willow apologized to the two girls. She had to call it a day.

"I'm sorry, Dawnie. But, hey, I'll keep looking. I just have to be somewhere in about an hour. I'll come by tomorrow and help some more." Willow turned her head and stared at the sleeping vampire. "Aww, he almost looks like he's sleeping lying there like that, just waiting for his Prince Charming , uh, I mean Princess, to appear and wake him with a kiss."

Dawn sat up at the mention of Willow's observation.

"Hey, Will, could you drop me off at the library on your way to wherever? Only if it's not out of the way. There's some books I need to look for."

"Sure, Dawn, I'd be happy to."

"I'll be back before 7, Buffy." She skipped out ahead of Willow, leaving Buffy alone in the house with a disturbingly peaceful Spike.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Buffy ended up going upstairs. She couldn't stand to be in the vicinity of the slumbering vampire without oogey feelings running through her mind. She had cleaned not only her bedroom but the bathroom as well to keep herself preoccupied.

Alone with her thoughts, she had decided she was actually more than a little concerned about Spike's predicament. She was befuddled more than anyone could imagine. Was he going to end up being a permanent fixture in the Summers' house? Would he eventually turn to dust in front of them suddenly or over time slowly crumble away? She thought about how much she would miss having him around, annoying though he was. He was an excellent fighter and most of the time a fairly decent slaying partner. He knew a lot about the underworld and the demons who inhabited it. He knew many different languages and was more intelligent than he let on. So, yeah, he was useful to have around. She had resigned to herself that on her nightly patrol that night, she would be searching for a particular warlock or pumping unsuspecting victims for any information. Hearing the front door slam brought her out of her thoughts.

"Buffy," Dawn yelled for her sister at the foot of the stairs.

"I'm up here, Dawnie, my room," Buffy called back.

Dawn was up the flight of stairs and through her bedroom door in a blink of an eye, out of breath and her eyes wide and bright as if she had discovered a trove of gold and jewels buried somewhere. Buffy stood suddenly.

"What's wrong? Is Spike awake?"

"No, he's still sleeping. Sit down, I need to show you some stuff that I found at the library. Maybe we can have Willow check things out on the internet tomorrow when she comes by, but look."

Dawn took a couple of large books out of her bookbag and sat down next to her sister on the bed. The large text she held in her hands was a book of fairy tales. Dawn had earmarked the page she had found interesting. The story she opened it to was The Brothers Grimm version of Sleeping Beauty.

"First, you mentioned the "at the strike of midnight" then when Willow mentioned how much Spike looked like he was just sleeping, waiting to be awakened, this was the first thing I thought of. A fairy tale. You know, Spike didn't seem too worried about the curse the warlock placed on him, as if he thought the guy was just teasing him with all his big talk. But what if he *was* actually teasing him, and this is what he cursed Spike with, just like the witch did to Sleeping Beauty. You know Spike, he probably annoyed the warlock so much that he wanted to show Spike up and bring him down a notch or two. I don't know, what do you think, Buffy? Buffy? What's wrong?"

"Didn't Sleeping Beauty have to be woke up with a kiss?" Dawn shook her head yes. "Just curious but who----? No, no, no, no, please tell me---no don't tell me. Oh, please no."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to. I'm too young, remember? And besides, he's like a trillion years older than me and way too much like a big brother, eww. And Willow, well with the whole gay thing, I don't think she---and Anya, well you said you didn't want Xander involved and I think if Anya did it, Xander would have to know. So---that leaves---you, Buffy."

Buffy stood facing the wall in her bedroom, leaning forward slightly until her forehead touched it. Lightly she began to bang her head on it. A low moan escaped from her throat.

"Buffy? It's worth a try, don't you think?" Dawn asked her, pleading in her voice. What Buffy didn't know was that Dawn wished deep down that the two once mortal enemies would end up together, her two favorite people. She knew how Spike felt about her sister, even though Buffy was oblivious to anything.

Buffy still stood leaning her head against the wall. She mumbled, "I guess." She snapped around and glared at her little sister.

"But so help me, if I get any flak from this, I'll never speak to you again."

"Never?" Dawn gulped.

"Well, at least a couple of days, but don't push it.---Come on, let's get this over with."

Buffy walked out of her room and down the stairs to stand next to the dozing vampire lounging on the sofa. He really did look peaceful lying there, like they should be paying their last respects. And hmm, she never really took the time to notice how handsome he was, with his ivory pallor and angular features. Almost beautiful in an immoral immortal kind of way. Buffy glanced over at Dawn, who really looked too eager for this upcoming scenario to happen, before lowering herself to Spike's level.

She sat there on her folded legs staring at him, working up the nerve to place the kiss on his perfectly delicious---lips. Hey, did she just think that? 'Oh, get on with it, Buffy.' She inhaled deeply, shut her eyes tightly, leaned forward, but then had to open her eyes slightly to find the target, and placed a soft, gentle kiss on his inviting mouth. After a couple of seconds she pulled back slowly. Nothing happened. Her shoulders sagged and she looked down at her hands sitting in her lap. It was worth a try, she had to agree with her sister. Dawn sighed loudly behind her. Buffy looked up just in time to see Spike's eyes flutter open, trying to focus on his surroundings. She quickly stood up on her knees.

"Spike!" she said, a rather bit too enthusiastic.

He gave her a frightened, puzzled look.

"Begging your pardon?" he gasped out.

"Spike, you're awake," she joyously cried, reaching out to touch his arm. Dawn scurried over to sit next to Buffy, excited as well.

Spike scrambled up to a sitting position, pulling his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He looked at the two girls with fear in his eyes.

"Do tell, what is this spike your taking on about?"

"Spike?" Dawn was worried. "It's your name."

"Sorry, miss, my name is William. I am sure of it. What I'm not sure of is my whereabouts. Could you be so kind as to tell me where I am exactly?"

Dawn and Buffy turned to look at one another in utter confusion. Dawn exhaled sharply.

"Oh, boy."

TBC

Disclaimer: Everyone bloody knows by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy. Oh and just a note: Sleeping Beauty doesn't belong to me, either. Hey, I'm not *that* old! 8D (and as a side note, Sleeping Beauty is my all time fav. fairy tale even before I saw the Disney version.)

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

The three of them sat and stared at one another, neither one knowing what to do or say.

"Spike?" Buffy was sure this was another one of Spike's devious ploys of what he thought was funny.

"I can't imagine why you must keep calling me by that wretched name. My name, Miss, is William. William Winters. Possible you may know my mother or, or my sister per---perhaps?" he stuttered a bit.

Buffy had never known Spike to stutter or even talk like the way he was now. His accent had deepened and sounded more uppercrust, closer to Giles accent to put it precisely. She stood and started laughing.

"You got us. I hate to admit to it, but you got us good. You can cut the act. Pretty funny."

"Buffy," Dawn stood and looked at her sister. "I don't think he is joking."

Buffy stared at Dawn for a second or two, then looked back at Spike still sitting on the couch huddled in a tight ball. He stared up at her wide eyed and shook his head no slowly.

"Miss, I think I may have lost conciousness. Did I hit my head? I seem to have forgotten where I am and how I came to be here."

"Yes, in a way, you did. Can you please stop calling me Miss? The name is Buffy, this is my sister, Dawn. And you're---William?"

"That is correct, Mmmbuffy. Buffy, a highly unusual name." He saw her face change at this remark. "Oh but it'sss---nice. And you're clearly not from around here by your accent."

"Where *exactly* is here?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Why, London, Mi---sorry, Dawn was it?" Dawn shook her head yes. "Did you not know you were in London?" he smiled brightly. "Did you travel here from another country?"

"Weeelllll, we are from California actually. Have you ever been there?"

William chuckled. "The States? No, I'm afraid not. Though I always wanted to travel. I"ve always wondered what the rest of the world looked like."

"Oh, you would love California. It's bright and sunny. Full of different cultures, markets, palm trees, miles of sandy beaches and the ocean." Dawn was excitedly telling him about home like she really *was* in London.

Buffy noticed that Spike, or rather William, had finally relaxed a little and was, not surprisingly, enjoying the company of her sister. She decided this may be a good time to slip out for that lookaround she had been thinking of doing earlier in the afternoon. There was a certain warlock out there she had a need to get her hands on.

"Are you hungry,---William?" Buffy asked. He turned his attention to her and shook his head up and down slowly. She noticed the difference in his demeanor whenever she spoke to him. Almost as if he was frightened of her. She realized she had come across a bit overpowering. Was she like that all the time with Spike? If she was, he must be handling it rather well. He always had a good comeback.

It was like a game between the two of them, trying to outdo the other with verbal attacks. They once were told by a stanger passing by during one of their bantering sessions that they were such a cute couple. She went on to say how they must be so totally in love what with all the flirting they were doing with one another. Spike had growled at the passer-by, Buffy huffed and turned to walk away from the annoying vampire *and* stranger. How dare she even insinuate that she and Spike were a---couple. Never to be. Never.

"Dawn, can you come with me into the kitchen, please?" she looked back at William. "Excuse us just for a minute." He smiled slightly.

Dawn followed her sister into the other room. "What's up?"

"I'm going to go patrol. See if I can find myself a warlock and pound some sense out of him. There is salisbury steaks in the freezer. Pop them into the microwave. Make some instant mashed potatoes and open up a can of green beans or something. And by something, I mean something nutritious. Don't let him wander around the house and don't say anything until I get back, ok? I don't know what is up yet and if he finds out anything, I'm not sure how traumatic it will be for him. Just tell him I had to step out and will be back later. You think you can handle everything?"

"Buffy, I'm not 5. Yes, go patrol. Find out what you can. We'll just watch some---."

"Do *not* turn on the tv. Not the radio, nothing. If he happens to ask what it is, just tell him---tell him---your father's an inventor and that you don't know. Keep him in the living room. Just---talk with him. You seem to be doing that pretty well already."

"Oooh, I just realized something. I can find out all about his human life. Oh this is going to be so neat. I'll start supper now. Hurry and leave so we can talk. I don't think he likes you too much. Um, no offense."

Buffy's mouth dropped open. "I'm---likable---aren't I? I mean, I have friends and they like me and, and---."

Dawn patted her on the arm. "You are very likable, Buffy, just not by him. I think you scare him. You do seem to come across all superior whenever you're around him. Come to think of it, you're like that when you're around Spike, too. But Spike knows how to handle you and I think Spike likes you."

"Whatever. I'm going. Remember what I said."

"Yes, yes. Be careful!" Dawn called as the back door shut.

Back in the living room, William was standing in front of the fireplace looking at the items on the mantel. Pictures of the family and knicknacks were sitting on it. Dawn cleared her throat. He turned to look and smiled at her sweetly.

"Just having a look around. Your photographs seem so lifelike, not anything like I've---."

"Well, you know. Hey, I'm going to fix something to eat. If you want to have a seat and wait, I'll be done in a jiffy."

Dawn returned to the kitchen and quickly whipped up the meal Buffy had suggested. Every once in a while, a noise would come from the other room. She had a sneaking suspicion he was snooping around. Ten minutes later, supper was fixed and on plates ready to be eaten. She carried them into the adjoining room, stoppind dead in her tracks when she saw him. He sat directly in front of the television, gently running his fingers over the screen as pictures flashed across it. His eyes were wide and transfixed, not even noticing Dawn had come into the room. She groaned and set the plates onto the coffee table. She stood there, hands on her hips.

"So," he jumped at the sound of her voice and stood abruptly. "I see you found the button to turn on the tv."

"I do so apologize. Curiousity gets the better of me at times. I almost feel like I'm in another world. What part of London are we in and what is with all these---trinkets and devices and such?"

"Um,---well, you see. Oh, for pete's sake. William, you need to sit down."

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Buffy had traipsed through three cemeteries without any luck. A few vampires got dusted on the way, so the whole trip wasn't a total loss. She decided to head to Willy's even though she would rather not set foot in the place. Willy always wanted something in return for any information he gave her. She didn't have but $20 on her so it would have to do. He should be grateful she didn't torture him into submission. But, hey, you can only have so much fun torturing sleezy humans until it turned into dangerous territory, for the human that is.

The demon bar was filled to capacity for some unknown reason. Buffy's skin tingled, her blood boiled and her senses went on overdrive. A path opened up as she stepped in and made her way over to the bar. Willy saw her and instantly began to sweat.

"Willy, pal, no need to be so nervous. Just looking for someone and thought maybe you may have seen or heard of them. He's a warlock, someone not a Sunnydale resident. Last time he was seen was in the cemetery, Rossling cemetery a few nights ago, working a spell over an unconcious young girl. The girl got spooked and ran off. Not sure what he looks like but have heard he's cocky and stupid enough to threaten my slayer abilities. Sound familiar?"

"Uh, sorry Slayer. He doesn't frequent the place. You may want to try the uptown places where magic tossers go."

"Thanks anyway."

"Hey, don't I get anything in return?"

"You got a thank you and fist free face. What else do you want?"

Buffy turned to make her way back out when a large demon sitting in the dark corner spoke up.

"SSSlayer," he followed this with a couple of deep clicking sounds. She turned and stepped a little closer, ready to fight if need be.

"I believe, click, click, I know, click, click, who you are looking for, click. His name, click, click, is Sherman. He, click, is not from around, click, click, here. He's up to no, click, good, I can tell you, click, that. He goes to that, click, magic shop, click, uptown. You should, click, find him, click, there sometime. Clickkkkk."

"Uh, thanks, I think?" Buffy back away and left the bar. She looked at her watch and decided she would check the area the demon mentioned the next day. It was getting too late and something seemed to be bothering her.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

The back door opened and shut and Buffy walked back into the living room. Dawn was sitting on the edge of the couch, looking tense and bewildered.

"Hey," she squeeked.

"Dawn, where is Spike?"

"You mean William?"

"One in the same. Where are they both?"

"Well, you see, you remember when you said not to let him wander around and not to tell him anything?"

"Dawnie!" Buffy grumbled.

"How was I to know he was a snoop. I couldn't tie him down the whole time. I had to fix supper, you know. He---he learned how to turn the tv on. Then he started to ask questions and well, I couldn't lie to him. So, I told him what year it was, and where he was, but I didn't tell him what he was. I think he took it pretty hard. He---he sort of freaked out and ran out the front door. He was too quick. I looked up and down the block then thought I'd better wait for you to come home. I'm sorry, Buffy."

"Oh, god, Dawn, if we can't find him before sunrise, then we won't have too much to worry about explaining things to him. We need to find him and we have seven hours to do it in. Grab a couple more stakes and let's get going."

TBC

Disclaimer: Everyone bloody knows by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy. Oh and just a note: Sleeping Beauty doesn't belong to me, either. Hey, I'm not *that* old! 8D (and as a side note, Sleeping Beauty is my all time fav. fairy tale even before I saw the Disney version.)

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

"Come on, Dawn," Buffy grumbled. "How long do you think he's been out there wandering around?"

Dawn finally rushed over to the front door to an anxiously awaiting Slayer.

"Probably, maybe 45 minutes. I think. At least close to it."

"Gggrrr," she growled again before jerking the door open and stomping out onto the porch, her sister following her meekly as they headed out in search of a lost vampire with a non-existent vampire memory. Deep down inside she felt scared for him since he didn't know what he really was and that this so called world he was about to discover had changed immensely since the late 1800's. Not only that, but to William, this was even a totally different country that, in his mind, he had never been to.

Buffy was reeling so much so that the familiar feeling had not registered with her until she had reached the end of the walk in the front of their home. She stopped so fast that Dawn slammed into the back end.

"Oof, Buffy, a little warning, please! What's wrong?" Dawn whined.

Buffy slowly glanced around, looking left and right and clearly in front of her before placing her hands on her hips and turning to her sister.

"What is it?" Dawn knew something was up. Buffy was feeling something.

"Well, either there is a vampire nearby, or *our* vampire didn't wander off too far. No, I *know* he didn't."

"How do you know it's him?"

"Um, kinda hard to explain. He gives off a distinctive vibe. I sort of know him by the tinglies now. And right about now---," she leaned and glanced around Dawn. "yep, bingo, one Spike a.k.a. William is sitting on one Summers' porch swing. Here," she grabbed Dawn's arm, "let me go up first. Smile and walk slowly, talk pleasantly."

The two girls headed back towards the house, Buffy keeping her eyes on Spike as she slowly stepped up onto the porch. She stood in front of the swing, looking at him. He would not look up, but instead kept his eyes down, his hands clasped tightly and sitting in his lap. She cleared her throat lightly.

"May I sit down?" He didn't acknowledge her presence. "William? Would you like to instead come back into the house then? You can ask me anything that's bothering you and I'll try my best to answer."

He glanced up at her, complete and utter fear shining behind his magnificently blue eyes. She held out a hand, hoping he would think her harmless, even though Dawn had informed her earlier that she thought he was afraid of Buffy.

She added, "I promise I don't bite. I'm really a nice person, and can be a great friend if you'll let me."

He looked down at her extended hand, leaned forward a bit, then reluctantly slipped his hand into hers. Buffy smiled sweetly and walked with him slowly through the front door and over to the living room sofa. Dawn had followed behind and sat in a chair across from them, keeping her lips zipped the whole time. She felt it best for Buffy to do the talking since she had caused the catastophic mess in the first place. He sat there, slouched over, looking confused and depressed.

"William?" Buffy started. He looked over at the young woman sitting on the opposite end of the couch, eyes wide. She smiled at him again which caused him to smile slightly back at her.

"I'm sure you have a million questions racing through your mind. Anything in particular you would like to ask?"

"How did I get here?" he softly enquired.

"Well, um, you see, I'm not sure." She felt it was sort of an honest answer. She really didn't know how he had come to Sunnydale in the first place so long ago. If there was anyway she could dance around the fact that he was a vampire, she would try her hardest without lying too much.

"Ok, let's try this another way. You were here, in my living room and you passed out. You were unconcious for almost a whole day. Um, when you woke up, you were a totally different person, at least to us. The vam-person that we know was gone. Sort of like you took over his body with a whole different personality."

William sat there for a second, then started shaking his head up and down.

"So what you're saying, is that somehow I was taken out of my world and out of my time and ended up here and now? I recall something in my studies that dealt with certain occurrences of this nature."

Dawn sat up, surprised. "Wha---excuse me? Studies? What have you been studying? And where?" Buffy turned her head and glared at Dawn. "Oh, okay, shutting up now."

Buffy returned her attention back to William. "What have you been studying and where?"

Dawn sighed loudly. William chuckled at the sisters.

"I go to university. I take some studies, well, that are a tad bit occultish in nature. I have always had an interest in the supernatural. My mum doesn't know I am taking the class her being a woman of faith and all. My professor, he's also a part of some council that fights against beings not of this world. He seems to know a vast amount of information, so nothing will surprise me. Just, why me?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I have a source to check out tomorrow. He may have some information for us. A council, huh? Interesting."

"May I come along with you?" He asked earnestly.

"Uh, well, you see, I don't want to scare him off. He might think we're gaining up on him or something. I feel better going and finding him myself."

"No offense, but you're a lady. Wouldn't it be safer if I did accompany you?"

Buffy laughed softly. "Aren't you the gentleman? Believe me, I can handle myself. I'll explain it to you some other time. Right now, I think it's time to hit the sack, oh, sorry, I mean go to bed. We have a spare room if you would like to sleep in a real bed tonight."

"I don't want to impose on you. The both of you have been overly kind to me already. I appreciate just having a pillow to rest my head upon."

"Don't be silly. You're not imposing cause your always welcome in our home. Only if you don't mind the feminine decor, you are more than welcome to stay in our mom's room. Right, Buffy?"

Buffy shook her head yes. "Of course."

"Thank you. It's very kind of you. And tomorrow, might I persuade one of you to show me how your 21st century's gadgets work?"

Both girls laughed. Dawn looked at him with a smile. "Sure, I can show you how things work. If you were impressed with the television, wait til you hear the cd player."

"Well, I'm going to go get mom's room ready for you. I'll call you when it's done."

Buffy headed up the stairs to remove any mirrors that were hanging in Joyce's room. She would have to lock the master bathroom door from the outside and take the key with her. Surprisingly, he had not thought of his lack of bodily functions. Must have not registered with his brain yet that he didn't ever need to use the facilities. He had been eating regular food, but Buffy knew the loss of drinking blood would start to affect him sooner or later. She hoped she could find Sherman, the friendly neighborhood warlock, tomorrow and find out just exactly what he had pulled out of his hat when dealing with Spike. Hopefully, whatever it was, it could be reversed.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Morning arrived, and Buffy noticed both Dawn's and her mother's bedroom doors were open which meant the two delinquents were up and doing something sinisterly evil, she was sure of it. Their voices drifted through the house once she reached the bottom of the stairs coming from the kitchen. She stood in the doorway and watched as Dawn showed him how to implement the microwave. He was down right fascinated.

"Are we playing or cooking breakfast?" Buffy laughingly asked the two.

Spike straightend from his stooped over observation of the contents in the microwave looking a bit sheepish. It beeped and Dawn opened the door, pulling a mug out and placing it in his hands. His mouth dropped at the realization of just what the appliance could accomplish.

Buffy smiled and walked over to the cabinet to get a box of cereal out. In a way, it was interesting to see his fascination with everything. He was like a child on Christmas morning, everything was brand new to him in a way, or at least to William it was. Dawn was just as bad. She seemed so giddy, being able to show him how everything worked and happy that he was excited about it all. Buffy believed it to be completely harmless.

"Oh, Buffy, wait. I showed William how the stove worked and he wanted to make some eggs and bacon. I'll do the toast."

"We have that stuff? Mmmm, sounds yummy." She smiled brightly.

William shyly smiled back and turned to grab the egg carton and package of bacon off the counter before walking over to the stove. Buffy sat on a stool at the center island and watched him. Dawn was making coffee, pouring juice into glasses and preparing toast for the three of them, humming and off in her own little world. For some reason, Buffy was mesmerized by Spike's domestic abilities. She bet his mother had been a wonderful woman, teaching her children everything they needed to know before they headed out into the real world. So unfortunate that William never got much of a chance to experience that life. Before she even noticed, he had set a plateful of delicious breakfast goodness in front of her.

"Thank you. It smells wonderful." She took her first bite, made a nummy sound and shut her eyes, like she had tasted a slice of heaven. William raised his brows at her enjoyment of the scrambled eggs.

"Is it to your satisfaction, m'lady?" He sincerely asked her. Her eyes popped open at the question, a little embarrassed at herself for making such a fuss over the delicious eggs.

"Absolutely scrumptious. You're a wonderful cook." She could've sworn color flushed his cheeks for a split second at her remark. Maybe it was her imagination.

"Buffy doesn't cook and mom only cooks breakfast for us on that rare occasion when she's not busy with the gallery. Where did you learn, William?" Dawn set the buttered toast on the counter.

"Oh, my mum of course. I hated it at first, but now I rather enjoy cooking, especially for others. She even taught me how to bake."

"Ooh, ooh, want to make chocolate chip cookies this afternoon?" Dawn squealed. William smiled brightly.

"Would love to. But remember, you promised to show me other, um, appliances? I'm rather curious to see how these contraptions work. Absolutely amazing. I could actually live in this world, if it be so that is." He glanced over at Buffy before stuffing a bite into his mouth. "I'd miss my family and everything, of course, and I know you would miss your friend, the one you mentioned, but if circumstances do not come full circle, I wouldn't have any qualms to staying."

Buffy was surprised at his admission. Dawn's mouth dropped open.

"But don't you want to be Spi---?"

Buffy reached out and grabbed her sister's arm. "Shh, William is just excited about all the new and wonderful things he has yet to learn about. Why don't you show him how the stuff works, and I'm going to go into town. I need to do some shopping. Thanks again for the delicious breakfast, William."

"You're very welcome---Buffy." He smiled at her shyly again and she returned it.

As she walked out the door to head to town, she wondered if it was wrong for her to want William to stay behind instead of searching for a way to bring Spike back. She laughed out loud. How ridiculous the notion, though, because he was still a vampire whether he knew nothing about his demon ways or what. She was sure that would be the next stage they would have to deal with in the life of William the Bloody.

TBC

A/N: Thanks ever so very much for all the beautiful reviews. Everyone of you are remarkable and very much appreciated. Please keep Reading, and even more so Reviewing. I like knowing what you actually think!!

Disclaimer: Everyone bloody knows by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy. Oh and just a note: Sleeping Beauty doesn't belong to me, Hey, I'm not *that* old! 8D (and as a side note, Sleeping Beauty is my all time fav. fairy tale even before I saw the Disney version.)

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Buffy walked through the Magic Box doors to find Giles standing behind the counter staring off into space. She figured he was deep in thought about something watcherly. He had "the look" about him. She walked quietly towards him and stood directly in front of him for about five seconds before saying anything.

"Good morning, Giles," she said sweetly but rather loud.

Giles knocked a spindle and an empty cup over from the surprising salutation.

"Oh, goodness, Buffy. Good morning. I didn't hear you come in."

"If I had been a robber, Giles, I could have cleaned out the whole shop."

"Why, yes, I suppose you could have. Do forgive me, my mind is elsewhere."

"What's got you so thinky? Mmnn," she groaned. "Don't tell me it's another baddie. I've got too much on my plate as it stands, what with taking care of Dawn while mom is out of town, getting to at least most of my classes this coming week, patrolling everynight, searching for a stupid warlock, and dealing with Spike who is now William and staying at my house. I'm gonna need an appointment book."

"Wh---What did you just say?" Giles looked perplexed.

"Taking care of Dawn?"

"Noooo. The last bit."

"I need an appointment book?"

"Buffy!?" Giles was exasperated. Buffy giggled.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. Yeah, Spike. He ran into a warlock Friday night, and the guy got mad at him or something and put a curse on him. He passed out around midnight, Dawn figured out that I had to kiss him to wake him, he woke up but now Spike is not Spike at all, but William even though William is still actually Spike the vampire in body but not Spike in mind. I know, I know. I had some run on sentences in there."

"My, that is---quite interesting. I should think that would be something to see."

"Oh, I'm sure he would love to talk to you. Seems little Willie, ahem, William, may have had a Watcher as a professor in college back when. He knows some things about demons and other fun and neat stuff."

"Quite fascinating. Do you think I can come over tonight after closing up?"

"I don't see why not. Willow is coming by as well. Just remember he doesn't know he's a vampire. Now back to the warlock. Any customers that might resemble a warlock coming in here within the last, oh, two weeks?"

"You don't know what he looks like?"

"No description. His name, though, is Sherman." Giles gave her a 'you gotta be kidding' look. "I know, ooh, scary. Spike said he was arrogant and mouthy. Hmm, sounds like he was describing himself." She smiled. "Anyway, when he ran into him in the cemetery Friday night, he was casting a spell over a young girl. I don't know anything else other than he threatened to open the hellmouth, but that could've been just talk."

"Well, I can look back over my receipts and keep an eye open but other than that, I don't rightly recall anyone that would make me think they were a warlock."

"Ok, come on by then tonight. We'll order out or something. I'm going to go check a few other places so I'll see ya tonight."

"I'll see you around 8:30 then, Buffy."

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Dawn appeared in the kitchen wearing a frilly pink apron and her hair pulled back with a red bandana. William looked up from his perusal of the cookie recipe and the ingredients sitting out in front of him. He snickered at Dawn's getup. She huffed at him.

"Well, how do I look?" Dawn twirled around like a ballerina.

"It's---quite fetching." He continued to snicker.

"You're teasing."

"Yes, quite so. You're as cute as a button. You remind me so much of my little sister, Emily. She can be a nuisance at times, though, but I still adore her."

Dawn cocked her head to the side listening to Spike talk about his family. "Can I call you Will?"

"Sure. Fancy that. My little sister calls me by my shortened name as well." He smiled at her. "Ready to make some cookies?"

"Am I ever!"

Four dozen cookies later, the two stood in the middle of the kitchen looking at what they had accomplished. Mixing bowls and spatulas were piled up in the sink, cookie dough was glopped on the counter and both were covered from head to toe in flour.

"I guess we better get things cleaned up before your sister comes home."

"Yeah, I don't think bribing her with yummies will cover up the fact that we just made a down right mess of the kitchen. Oh, you got a little flour-- -well, kind of everywhere." Dawn began to giggle. William joined in.

"Sorry to tell you this, but so do you."

"Oh, boy. Either this is a sign that we are really good cooks or your basic run of the mill slobs. I'll wipe up if you want to do the dishes."

"Dishes I can do."

"When we're finished, I'll show you the stereo and cd player. What type of music do you listen to? Oh, that was a silly question, never mind."

"Oh, no, on the contrary. I've been to some afternoon picnics where they've had a string quartet playing and we have a phonograph at home that my grandfather gave to us. I tend to lean more towards Beethoven and Mozart, but Bach is my favorite. I don't rightly care so much for opera. Gives me a terrible headache."

"So--classical, right? You know, I think my mom has some of that. We'll have to dig around and see. Have you ever been to a ball?"

"Yes, only one. A masquerade ball, actually. Have you?"

"Shyeah, right. I always thought it would be so eloquent dancing around in a long, flowing gown, but knowing me, I'd probably step all over my date's feet."

"Date? Isn't that a dried fruit?" Dawn rolled her eyes. "Would you like me to show you how to ballroom dance? My mum taught me when I was 12 or so. It's simple. You'll be as graceful as a swan in no time."

"Oh, that's sounds like so much fun. Hurry with the dishes, I can't wait." Dawn squealed in excitement. William laughed and shook his head at her, turning back to finish his chore.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Buffy walked into her house to a completely rearranged living room accompanied by classical music flowing out of the speakers. In the center of it all, Dawn and William were dancing around the room that had apparently been transformed into a ballroom. Buffy stood and watched them, smiling at how much fun it looked like they were having. The music stopped and he bowed to Dawn, she returning it with a curtsie. Buffy began to clap, surprising the dancers.

"Oh, Buffy, Buffy," Dawn ran over to her sister and took her hand, dragging her towards William. "Let Will teach you how to dance. Or, I mean to 'Waltz'. He's a very good teacher.

"Oh, I don't know Dawnie. I was never really good at---." She was cut off short when Dawn basically threw her into William's arms.

"Sorry, she gets a little excited sometimes. We don't have to, you know." Buffy tried to find a way to get out of the dance lesson.

"It will be an honor to dance with you," he softly reiterated. "Do you know how to waltz?"

"Well, mom used to watch reruns of Lawrence Welk, but never mind because you won't know what I'm talking about, so no, not really." Buffy didn't know why, but all of a sudden she felt her cheeks began to burn as she rambled.

"Alright then, it's a 3-step dance. 1-2-3, 1-2-3. Just let me lead and--- see how simple?"

"Wow, this is sorta---fun. Whoa," Buffy laughed as William twirled her around in one complete circle. "You threw me off there for a second." Both of them were now laughing. Dawn smiled at them mischieviously. The song ended and she jumped up off the couch.

"My turn, my turn," she yelled while jumping up and down. Buffy and William looked at her.

"See what I mean?" Buffy explained to a smiling William.

All three continued the dance lessons with the last dance belonging to Buffy. When they finished, he bowed, then gently pulled her hand to him and placed a tender kiss on her knuckles. She ended up blushing again until Dawn swooped her away and escorted her into the kitchen followed close behind by William. He began to prepare tea while Dawn put the freshly baked cookies out on a plate.

"Sooo---what's going on? Why so formal?" Buffy asked.

"Afternoon tea, silly," Dawn chided.

"Oh, do forgive me," Buffy stuck her nose up with an act of snobbishness. William snorted and began to chuckle quietly, his back still turned away. Buffy noticed him laughing.

"What are you laughing about?" she asked him. He cleared his throat and turned to look at her over his shoulder, his eyes shining.

"Do you think the British put on airs, Miss Summers?"

"What? Oh, no, I mean, I was just teasing. Teasing Dawn, yeah, that's what I was doing." Was she blushing again? 'So gotta stop doing that,' Buffy thought to herself.

They carried on a light conversation while enjoying the tea and cookies. Buffy mentioned that Giles was coming by later that evening and Willow wouldn't be too far behind him.

"So, what should we have for supper?" Buffy enquired.

"I'm guess it's either pizza or chinese." She turned to William. "Buffy has a magical way of making dinner. She picks up the phone and pushes the buttons and, voila, less than an hour later---."

"You brat, at least be happy you get something to eat that's edible." Buffy lightly pinched her sister's arm. Dawn retaliated. William cleared his throat.

"Pardon the intrusion." Both girls looked up at him. "I took the liberty of glancing through your---freezer?---and took out a roasting chicken. Would you mind if I prepared something for supper? It would be a pleasure and since you are having company---."

"Company? It's just Willow and Giles. And I wouldn't want you to make meals for us. You're a---you're a---guest in our home."

"Please. It's no bother, really. I would love to do it."

"But---."

"Buffy," Dawn said under her breath. "He says he wants to, what's the harm? Let him!"

"Ok, but at least let me help."

"NO," Dawn said a little too loud. She looked at William and shook her head no.

"I will be fine. And if I do need any help, I'll let you know."

Dawn began to bounce excitedly on her chair. "What are you making?"

William chuckled at her enthusiasm. "I was thinking of broasting the chicken. And I noticed you have some potatoes and carrots. I may even make a cake, or maybe a pudding, depending on what you have on hand."

"I can't wait."

'Neither can I,' Buffy mused. 'Wait til Giles gets a load of this.'

TBC

Dawn sat on the floor of the living room, papers and books scattered out in front of her on the coffee table. She had been sitting there like that since six and it was almost seven. A whole hour and she had not written one syllable on the blank piece of paper that still sat in front of her bleary eyes. She moaned loudly and dropped her head so that it rested on the edge of the table. Will, who had just come out of the kitchen and was sitting on the couch writing in a notebook that he had borrowed from the girl, noticed the pained sound.

"You sound displeased about something. May I be of help with your studies? I used to tutor the lower classmen."

Buffy looked up from the other side of Dawn where she sat curled up on the sofa reading a magazine. She didn't seemed at all surprised at William's confession of being a good student.

"Doesn't surprise me. I hate Lit class, I hate Shakespeare, I hate reading," Dawn moaned again.

William gasped in horror. "Why?"

"I just don't get these old stories and poems. They talk funny and I just don't understand them."

Buffy chuckled under her breath but William noticed. He clucked his tongue and shook his head sadly at the both of them. "May I see your textbook?"

Dawn handed him her Lit. book. He flipped through it slowly, smiling every once in a while. William stopped on a particular page and mused over it and looked up first at Dawn then at Buffy before beginning.

**"O my fair warrior! It gives me wonder great as my content To see you here before me. O my soul's joy! If after every tempest come such calms, May the winds blow till they have wakened death! And let the labouring bark climb hills of seas Olympus-high, and duck again as low As hell's from heaven! If it were now to die, 'Twere now to be most happy, for I fear My soul hath her content so absolute That not another comfort like to this Succeeds in unknow fate."

William shut the book and smiled again while handing it back to Dawn. She was stunned into silence. Buffy's mouth hung open and looked to be in awe.

"Well, it sounds much better with you reading it, I can tell you that much. How did you do that? That was actually---beautiful."

"I guess it's---just love." He smirked and Dawn, for a second or two, saw a glint of Spike's personality behind William's eyes. Buffy had been speechless during and after William's reading. It had sent tingles up and down her spine and no, they were not the kind she got from sensing vampires. What was happening to her? Weird feelings were happening here and she didn't understand. Was this actually how Spike was as a human being? Come to think of it, if she thought back really hard, she recalled some of William's essence bubbling to the surface on a rare occasion or two when she had been out and about with Spike. He took a chance and glanced up at her. She stared into his bright blue eyes.

"That *was* beautiful. Very deep. What was it?"

"Othello. Shakespeare of course. Othello was talking to Desdemona, his love."

"Wow," Dawn still seemed amazed. "Do you know any poems off the top of your head?"

"Well, um, no, um, I don't rightly recall---." William seemed suddenly restless.

"Oh, yeah, right, I forgot, you're too old to remember---."

"Too old? You speak of me as if I'm a codger and my mind is half gone. Alright, I will tell you one. This is a favorite of my mum's.

~*~Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

"That was beautiful, too. Shakespeare also?" Dawn enquired.

"No, I Corinthians 13."

Buffy smiled. "As in the bible Corinthians? Very nice." Absolutely nothing would surprise her now, neither with William nor Spike, as a matter of fact.

She went back to looking through her magazine, but the words 'Love---always protects, always trusts, alway hopes, always perseveres', still bounced around in her head.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Willow walked into the Summers' door about 8 that evening carrying an armload of books. Buffy had called her earlier and explained the situation at hand. She seemed very much intrigued.

"Mmm, what wonderful smells do I smell? It's smellerrific."

Buffy literally skipped in from the kitchen, a small smile showing on her face.

"Heya, Wills. Bring lots and lots of researchy stuff? Here, let me take some."

"Yes, I did, thank you very much. And you seem to be in a good mood. What's cooking---and who?"

"Oh, Will---I mean William---", she leaned towards Willow and lowered her voice. "I mean Spike as William. He's cooking supper for all of us."

"Really? He can do that?"

"Well, apparently so. I ate what he cooked for breakfast this morning and I'm still among the living---I think. I am here, right? This all just seems so out of the ordinary. I feel like I'm in the middle of another universe in the middle of a dream. Too bad Spike has to come back." Buffy laughed slightly, not sounding too convincing with the minor joke.

"Well, actually, everything that William does, Spike can do. He just chooses not to. Probably his big, bad reputation. Doesn't want to stake putting it to shame with all the victorian hulla baloo. I mean, think about it, he probably knows how to waltz, play a musical intrument, recite poetry, ride a horse, and many more things. They were taught a lot back then, depending on what class they came from."

"Hmm, I never thought of that. I never thought of Spike like that. I really do miss our useless verbal jabs at one another, though. I wish---."

"Hello. You must be Buffy's friend, Willow. I've heard a great deal about you." William stood just outside of the kitchen doorway, wiping his hands on a dish towel. Buffy looked at Willow, who stood there with mouth opened wide. She softly jabbed her with her elbow.

"Oh, yes, Willow, that's me, friend of Buffy. I hope it was good things you were told about me." She began to walk towards him just as he did the same.

"Of course they were." He smiled sweetly and offered his hand to her. She shook it slowly.

"I hear, William, that you are quite the cook." Willow started to head into the kitchen with William and Buffy tagging along behind.

"Piffle, I can cook. Me mum taught me at an early age. Course I got teased about it constantly, but let's see who gets the last laugh when all they can make for themselves is boiled potatoes and a bit o'porridge."

Buffy cocked her head. For a moment, she could have sworn she heard Spike. He continued.

"What's a fella to do with three beautiful young ladies waiting to be fed?"

'Ooh, what a charmer he is. Was he like this when he was human? He goes from scared and bashful to utterly charming.' She wondered this as she leaned against the center island, watching and listening to William.

A knock on the front door roused Buffy out of a slight hypnotic state. She caught herself smiling goofily and nodding her head at his rambling words. She excused herself to go answer the door. Giles stood on the porch, eager to come in and meet the vampire without the vampire memory.

"Is he still here? Still without any knowledge of---?"

"Yes and yes. He's in the kitchen---cooking." Buffy led Giles into the next room. Once in, William stopped the conversation and looked on.

"William, this is Giles. Rupert Giles but we all call him Giles. He's a--- watcher."

"I say, how do you do, William. It is very nice to make your acquaintance." Giles reached across the island and shook William's hand. William was quiet.

"Oh, sorry. How are you, mate? It's a privilege---there's something very familiar about you. We've never met before?"

"Um, no, *we've* never met, William."

"It's very nice to meet a fellow Englishman, Mr. Giles. So, you say you are a Watcher?"

"Yes, Buffy mentioned that you may have had a Watcher as a professor at the University. I find that fascinating. I would love to discuss your studies, say after the meal?"

William smirked, "Be happy to, even though I wasn't in the class for very long. And I'm sure to have some questions for you as well, Mr. Giles."

Giles was as giddy as a school boy himself. "Splendid."

Buffy just shook her head and rolled her eyes. "William, the food smells delicious. Can we at least know what we're having?"

"Oh, of course. Broasted chicken, with potatoes, onions and carrots. There were some dinner rolls in the freezer as well. And I made dessert. A recipe that was my mum's favorite and she made it every chance she got. Pumpkin rolls. I think you will pleased. I've undoubtedly memorized the recipe."

"I'm salivating as we stand here. Let's chow. I mean, let's eat then." Buffy smiled sweetly.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

"MMM," Buffy leaned back in her chair and placed her napkin on her empty plate. "The meal was delicious, William."

"Yes, quite so," Giles mumbled around his last bite.

"Thank you, it really wasn't anything extravagent." He stood to clear plates from the table but Dawn and Willow stood quickly to help him. He smiled at them and turned to head into the kitchen.

Dawn started the dishes as Willow made both coffee and tea. William readied the dessert when he suddenly realized that he could hear Buffy and Mr. Giles talking, clear as day. He stopped in mid slice and listened intently.

"Buffy, you do realize he is still a vampire, whether he has the mind of a human and the memories of just William. He will surely die a slow and agonizing death from lack of feeding. Somehow, someway he needs to be told."

William was stunned. Were they actually talking about him, about vampires, about him being one?

"Giles, Spike may be able to handle the situation, but William? He might freak on us again and take off.

Willaim grabbed the edge of the counter for stability for just a split second. This had to be some kind of deranged joke. He was overreacting, that's what it was. He helped the girls bring in the dessert but absently dropped one of the plates on the table, his hand shaking.

"Will, you feeling ok?" Buffy asked with concern.

"Just feeling a bit knackered. I think I may call it a night. Excuse me. Was very nice meeting you both." He addressed Willow and Giles and quickly strode towards the stairs.

He slowly made his way up to the top and stood momentarily. Instead of going into the master bedroom, he turned left and went into the bathroom.

William reached the sink, head bowed down, and turned the cold water on, leaning over and grabbing the sides of the sink. 'What is wrong with me?' he thought as he cupped his hands and filled them with the cool water then splashing over his face. Feeling slightly better, he repeated this action. Blindly he reached out for the towel and dried the lingering moisture off. Slowly he opened his eyes and stared at---the wall behind him? He turned and looked. Yes, that was the reflection in the mirror. Quickly he turned his head back around and gradually lifted his hand, his fingertips barely brushing the mirror. Nothing. He grabbed his chest and rolled away, leaning against the wall next to the sink, hyperventilating.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God," he breathily ranted.

He languidly slid back around and unwillingly glanced in the mirror once more.

"Aww, Bloody Hell!"

TBC

The group of four individuals sat around the table solemnly nibbling at their dessert and sipping their preferred beverages. It was Giles who finally broke the intense silence.

"Buffy, I seriously think you should tell him and soon. Something is going on with him right now as we speak. I can tell. I can't believe I'm saying this about Spike, but we just can't wait around hoping whatever spell he is under to just go away. He will surely wither away until he is dust and we are not immoral people here. Spike,er, has proven---well, he can help out, uh, when we need him?"

"I know, Giles, but how? If you have any, any clue as to how I should tell a vampire that he's a vampire, please, I'd love to hear it. I'm worried he will take off again and he's not mentally prepared to fight back if any baddies try to get a piece of him. Did you hear that? Was that me actually sounding concerned for Spike?"

"Buffy, don't be so mean," Dawn whimpered, looking away before she could start crying.

"I'm not. I'm actually concerned about Spike *and* William. I'm seriously beginning to miss Spike's mouth. And that did not come out the way I was meaning." She shook her head, looking disgusted at herself.

"We know what you mean, Buffy." Willow commented. "I think we all agree that Spike brings a lot of "life" to our dull and monotonous existences for a dead person. We know there is no kissage going on between you and Spike.- ---We--- *do* know that, right? Buffy, there isn't any---?"

"A world of no, no kissage. Nada. Zilch.----None---what---soever." Buffy trailed off, her thoughts meandering elsewhere.

Giles removed his glasses and began to clean the lenses. "Well, er, let's all sit here and think about this. Surely the four of us can come up with something feasible. One thing I am certain of is if he doesn't start feeding again, he will become feeble and weak, like he was at Thanksgiving last year. Once we figure out a way of breaking the news to him, get him drinking the butcher's blood and all, we can possibly track down this warlock you mentioned."

"Oh, yeah, did you find any trails or information about him?" Buffy had forgotten that she had told Giles about the warlock earlier in the day.

"I found a receipt with some herbs and other witchcraft paraphenelia on it but it could have been bought by any witch or warlock. It was dated last Wednesday, I believe. There was no other information. Sorry."

"Oh well, I'll keep searching tomorrow night. I have to go to my afternoon class but I can patrol in the evening and then visit some more demon haunts. Maybe I can get more info from them." She sighed with frustration.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

He wanted so much to smash the mirror into shards with his fist, but what purpose would that serve? Would only cause another but different kind of pain and a very big mess as well. His face still felt wet, but he was sure he had dried it off with the towel. He felt it with the back of his hand and indeed it was wet. He figured it out that he had begun to cry and had not even noticed.

"You ponce," he grumbled to himself. "Get into a tight fix and what do you start doing? You start sniveling like a tiddler*."

He was now leaning against the wall closest to the door, head lifted up to the ceiling in deep thought. He snorted and shook his head as he slid down the wall and sat on the cool floor, knees drawn up close to his chest. Laying his arms across his knees, he rested his head on them. He could clearly hear the conversation going on down in the dining room. They were once again talking about him. They knew, they all knew what he was. He heard Mr. Giles raising his voice, heard Buffy laugh though it sounded like an uneasy chortle, he barely heard the girl, Dawn, standing up for him, she herself sounding just as upset as he was about his newfound status. He heard the pretty red haired girl speak briefly but she sounded just as unsure of herself as he could be most of the time.

Thoughts ran rampant through his mind. We're his new friends planning on offing him anytime soon or helping him? Why hadn't they told him about everything earlier? What was he supposed to do now? He wasn't human anymore, he was a vampire. A monster. He felt the same except for the excellent hearing and sight, and he did feel considerably stronger. There had been this gnawing in his lower gut since he had awaken the other night. He had just shaken it off as hunger pains, but it was a continuous ache, almost like a need, a want.

"Oh," he sobbed, pressing the heels of his hands directly over his eyes. "I've read about the bloodlust. Is this what I'm feeling?"

How could he even---drink blood? No, never. He gagged just thinking about it. He sobbed again only louder.

Buffy had walked upstairs to check on William, to make sure he was feeling alright. She noticed Joyce's door was standing wide open while the bathroom door was closed, the light appearing on from underneath the bottom of the door. She heard his pained sigh and instantly panicked. Swiftly, she made her way to the door and knocked.

"Will, you allright in there? Can I---come in?" He didn't answer so she took the liberty to slowly crack the door open and peer in. She found him sitting on the floor next to the sink as she made her way in, making no sudden movements to startle him. He was staring straight ahead, but his eyes were puffy and rimmed with red and he was sniffling. She figured he had been crying so he obviously was upset about something or was really not feeling well. Which in any case worried her even more.

Buffy slowly walked over to him and kneeled down off to his side. She looked around but didn't really notice anything out of place except the face towel draped over the side of the basin. Buffy sighed. She was a little nervous now, not really knowing what was going on and was afraid to ask.

"Are you feeling ok?" Seemed to be the safest route to go at the moment. He turned to look at her, fear and sadness radiating out of his brilliant blue eyes. She gasped internally. Something was definitely wrong. How to go about finding out was a whole other story. She had to look away from his gaze.

Finally, "You know, don't you?" he whispered.

Her head snapped back to his attention. "What---What do you mean?"

He ducked, his eyes now hooded. "What I am? I thought you liked me but it was all an act. I thought we were becoming friends, but it was a ruse."

"William, what are you talking about?"

"I'm a monster. Something must have happened to me, to get me to forgot what a despicable creature I really am. How can I be this way? I don't feel evil or feel like I can do horrible acts of evil. What am I really? Please, Buffy, please tell me the truth. I deserve to know the truth."

He began to cry again. He groaned and cursed under his breath for losing the battle of calmness. He grabbed the towel and pushed it over his face to muffle the embarrassing sobs that wouldn't stop. Buffy felt a rise of guilt and pain for Spike surfacing and noticed tears were welling up in her own eyes as well. She reached out and touched his arm softly, gently stroking his upper arm. She had never seen Spike cry right out. When Dru had left him a few years back and he had returned to Sunnydale, she had heard the pain in his voice but had never seen him cry. This whole scene was harsh and all she wanted to do was take him in her arms and comfort him the best way she knew how.

"You're Spike," she whispered as she plopped down next to him on the tiled floor. "I'm sorry, William, but you *are* a vampire. But we can get you through this. It won't be so hard. And we *are* you're friends, all of us- --now we are. I want to be your friend---if you'll let me. William? Let me help you."

He gradually pulled the towel away and turned his head to look at her, cocking it to the side a bit. She smiled slightly, and placed her warm hand over his cool one. He returned the smile.

"So, you don't hate me, don't want to kill me or whatever it is you do to vampires?" He asked softly.

She chuckled. "It's called staking, or dusting. And no, I don't, though I will admit there were some times---but that's another story. I truly want to help you."

"We were friends before---before when I knew I was a vampire?"

"Well, let's just say we were acquaintances. You helped us sometimes and we just never staked you. You were kind of cocky, you know the whole "Big Bad" attitude thing. Got old. We fought a lot, mostly verbally. In a way I miss our little fights. Kept me on edge. But now, I have to say, I think we're on the friendship path, heading in the right direction."

He sniffled. "Good. Cause I like you, Buffy. I like all of you. Dawn reminds me a lot of my own sister. So, rest assured, I will never do anything to hurt any of you. I promise."

"That's another chapter to this long story. You can't actually harm humans anymore."

Williams eyes grew wide as he took in this last bit of information.

'What do you mean?"

"A couple of months ago, a group call the Initiative captured you and implanted a tiny chip in your head. It sends out shock waves or zaps you or something like that whenever you try to kill or harm a human. That's one reason why Spike, your vampire self, has come to be a part of our--- gang. You can kill demons. Which is, may I say, a nice incentive to the whole chip issue. At least you get to do some killing and be a good guy to boot."

"I like the sound of that much better than the whole biting and drinking of blood thing. I think I will go on to bed. I'm feeling very exhausted from this whole revelation. Maybe we can talk more in the morning? Get to know each other better. Of course you will be telling me about---me." They both stood up off the of the floor chuckling and headed out into the hallway.

"I would like that. Would you like me to get some blood from the butcher's tomorrow?"

William made a sickly face. "I---don't rightly know if I can---I mean, I guess I need it, right? This part might be the hardest. Yes, I suppose you should then, if it's what I need to live. Thank you---Buffy---for being so nice to me. I'm grateful for your friendship. Tell the others, assure them that I am allright with this. And thank them as well for me. Goodnight, then."

"I will. Goodnight."

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

William had been laying in bed wide awake for over an hour. He had heard the others leave, Dawn and Buffy come up the stairs and doors opening and closing. His mind was filled with questions and worries. Who was this Spike and what was he like? Apparently he wasn't the friendliest of vampires by what Buffy had mentioned. This notion made William laugh. When are vampires ever friendly? All they want to do is bite you and drink your blood; drain you dry or turn you into one of them. He thought that Spike should actually be grateful for these humans to take him in when he was supposedly handicapped. He rolled over and looked at the luminescent blue numbers standing out on the clock. 11:50. He really wanted to sleep but couldn't shut off the endless droning going on in his head. Finally, he began to doze off, his voice still rambling away in his subconcious.

Gasping for air and clutching the edge of the sheet he shot straight up in bed, his eyes enlarged as his mind raced. He settled a bit and began to look around at his surroundings. The smell was familiar. Buffy and Joyce, hell all the Summers' women drifted around him. He was in a bed in the Summers' home. Not Buffy's room, not Bit's room. Had to be Joyce's. It all hit him like a ton of bricks and came crashing down all around him. The last two days flashed through his head. He grasped his hair in handfuls and moaned.

"Bloody hell, Spike, what have you gone and gotten yourself into this time?"

TBC

Disclaimer: Everyone should bloody well know by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

He tossed and turned for three hours straight, staring intensely at the bright blue numbers every few minutes or so which didn't seem to help the restlessness. His gut grumbled it's annoying resonance and it was becoming unbearable. He needed blood, needed to feed right at that exact moment, otherwise go stark raving mad in the meantime.

He knew there was at least one packet of pig's blood stuffed back in the far reaches of the refrigerator, out of sight. He knew because he had put it there the last time he had been over to watch late night movies with the nibblet. But could he go unnoticed and sneak down the stairs to the kitchen without waking the slayer? That was the big question.

His dilemma was apparently obvious. Things just happened to be going fairly well now that "William" and Buffy were becoming friends. Spike didn't want to lose that growing friendship now and thought it best, in his own maniacal way, that Buffy didn't need to know he had regained all of the memories of his vampire existence back. She didn't need to know that Spike was now----well, Spike. He could be deceptive, hell, it's what he lived for. Evil, you know. He may have gone a bit soft, but he could still play the part. He could definitely put on a facade. He was a very good actor and never once thought of the dire consequences in the end.

Right now, all he could think about was feeding his craving. He slipped out of the bed and grabbed his jeans when he realized he was already wearing sweats. For certain one of Buffy's gifts to William. He shrugged not really caring because they were actually quite comfortable. Not his usual bedtime attire, but it would do.

He silently began to tiptoe down the stairs. Spike couldn't believe he had resorted to tiptoeing. About midway, the vampire hit a squeaky floorboard and cringed, cursing under his breath and standing completely still for a few seconds. When he heard nothing coming from Buffy's room he continued down the flight thinking that stalking his prey was a hell of a lot easier than playing keep away from the Slayer.

Once in the kitchen with the refrigerator door standing wide open, he ravishingly began to scoot things around, searching for the butcher's packet. A thought occured to him in the middle of this process. What if she surprised him by showing up in the kitchen? What would he tell her then? He picked up the orange juice container, grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and poured out some juice. As he replaced the container back on the shelf he grabbed the bag of blood. Damn, he wouldn't be able to warm it up. Oh well, he'd had worse.

Stepping out onto the back porch in the cool night air, he vamped out and sunk his teeth into the plastic bag, gulping greedily until he had completely drained it dry. Spike grimaced as he folded the bag into a nice neat square and headed back into the kitchen to stow the spent bag underneath the rest of the garbage in the kitchen trash can. He grabbed the filled glass, swigged the oj down in one gulp and placed the empty glass into the sink.

'Much better' he thought as he patted his tummy and grinned. But the grin turned into a frown. Back to the sneaking part. He was almost tempted to stay downstairs and sleep on the sofa but then would have to come up with a good excuse why he ended up on the couch. This time on the way up the steps he remembered which one was squeaky and bypassed it by stepping over the whole thing. As he shut the bedroom door silently behind him, he smiled and mentally patted himself on the back. 'Sly as a fox' he mused. 'I still got it.' Sleep overtook him quickly this time.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

It was after 10 in the morning when he roused himself from his deep yet unsatisfying sleep. He heard someone making racket downstairs and assumed it to be Buffy since Dawn was long gone to school. He wasn't prepared to face the new day, in fact not really prepared to face Buffy. His confidence in his acting and protrayal of "William" had dipped to a low and he was now feeling a bit queasy about the prospect of flat out lying to her.

He growled at his contemplations. What was he turning into? One lousy realistic dream about Buffy with his declarations of love and he had turned into a bleeding poncy schoolboy with a leash around his neck. He was being led straight into the bottomless pit of lovesick saps yet he hardly gave a struggle to keep his head above the rest. He didn't care; it was a good feeling to him. Much different than what he had with Drusilla. With Buffy, he would follow her around to the ends of the earth just to quench the fires that burned deep inside of him. If this was one way of getting her attention, then so be it. He'd rather be with her as William and feel at least a simplified version of love, than to be chasing after her as Spike and feel ridiculed and lowly.

That did it, he had made up his mind. Plan out the strategies and get into the game. He jumped out of bed and yanked the door open to find a pile of neatly folded brand new clothes sitting on the floor in front of him. He smiled at Buffy's growing sincerities. She had bought him some new clothes and even though they were nothing Spike would actually be caught "dead" in, he chuckled, William would most probably be a rather good-looking bloke in them. Spike scooped them up and headed to the bathroom to shower and change into the new duds.

Twenty minutes later, standing in the middle of the kitchen, he found himself alone in the house. Buffy had stepped out to run to the butcher's to grab some blood and had left a note to confirm her absence. So, Spike wandered back into the living room, very tempted to plop down on the couch and turn the telly on. He figured he better shut the Spike mode off even if he was by himself just in case. He didn't want to have to come up with excuses already in the beginning of his well thought out scheme.

He sat down on the couch anyway and glanced around. Something caught his roving eye; the notebook Dawn had given him the other night. Someone had moved it. He growled as he bent over to pick it up. How could he have been so careless to leave it just lying around for anyone to sneak a peak? Well, actually it was William who had left it out in the open. And he should have known better what with all the ridicule he had received over a century ago of his prose run mad. He began to flip through the pages to refresh his memory of what William had composed.

At the first reading of one of the poems, he groaned, threw his head back and closed his eyes tight. He chuckled in amusement.

"The bloody pouf fell hard, too. Doesn't surprise me, I guess, not in the least."

Spike continued to read the filled pages and was by all means impressed as he continued through the notebook. The first one, of course, was a bit flakey but he had to consider that he was a bit rusty. It had been quite sometime since he felt the urge to write poetry for anyone. And Buffy was just not anyone. She had captured his unbeating heart, and if he had one still, his very soul. His constant thoughts of her hit him to his very core and speaking of which, a deep tingle hit him just as the back door flew open. He quickly shut the notebook and thrust it between the cushion and the couch as he made his way to meet her in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Buffy," he greeted her shyly. "Can I help you in anyway?"

Buffy was trying to shut the door with her foot while balancing the three grocery bags in her arms. She smiled at him sweetly.

"Yes, please. Could you grab a bag or two? I'd appreciate it very much."

"Sure," he rounded the island and grabbed two bags out of her grasp, not noticing the beam of sunlight peeking through the open door which hit him directly on his left hand. He recoiled from it and hissed as the bag tumbled towards the floor. In the nick of time though, he scooped it up in his free arm before it hit. Vampire speed was still there. Buffy hurriedly slammed the door shut and ran to his side, grabbing the injured hand.

"It's alright, I'm alright. Don't worry---," he sputtered out.

"Hush," and she led him over to the sink and turned on the cool water, holding his burnt hand underneath the gentle flow. All he could do was stare at her, adoration plainly etched across his face.

"Thank you for the clothes," he barely voiced to her.

Buffy turned to look at him and got caught in his mesmerizing eyes. They stood there, water running over his hand, staring at one another for what seemed ages.

"You're welcome," she whispered. The phone rang shrilly and broke them both out of the trance. She shook her head and left him standing at the sink to answer the call.

He shut the water off and dried the wound gently just as she popped back up next to him. He showed it to her.

"See, healing already. I love this part---uh, the healing aspect, I mean," he said joyfully.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize the sun was coming in and---."

"Oh, not to worry. I'm sure I've had worse burns. Besides, I didn't think about it either. Me, I was the one who stuck his hand into the frying pan." He snickered at himself. Buffy giggled at the remark, too.

She began to empty out the bags. Seems she had gone to the grocery store as well.

"I bought some blood and I stopped by the Magic Box and picked up some of that Berber weed you seem to like so well, you know, when you were mentally Spike. You said it spiced it up or something like that. I thought it might be easier for you to drink it, you know, at first."

Spike stared at her in awe, transfixed by your thoughtfulness. She noticed him staring at her all goofy looking and everything.

"What?" she laughed.

"Amazing!"

"What's amazing?"

The look he had disappeared. "Oh, um, just that you would remember something like that. I mean, you yourself said you were not close to--- him, me, Spike. I just thought---oh, never you mind. Can I help you?"

"Sure, if you can find a place for these in the black hole we call the refrigerator."

He chuckled slightly as he began to shuffle things and scoot foodstuffs around in the cold abyss. Buffy glanced at him over her shoulder.

"I have two classes this afternoon that I need to go to. You think you will be alright here by yourself until, um, around 4:30ish? Dawn should be home by then and I generally get home around 5 or so."

"I think I can handle myself until then. I'm sure there is plenty of activities around here that will keep me preoccupied."

She took the last remaining items over to him to place in the fridge and stood, gaping at the now reorganized cold arrangement.

"Wow, you have great organizational skills. I always thought it strange how neat your, I mean Spike's, crypt is. Want to organize my closet?" she giggled. He laughed along with her.

She popped the blood filled mug into the microwave and heated it up while he finished up his refrigerator stocking. By the time he was finished, she had the warmed blood, two sandwiches and a pile of carrot sticks sitting out on the island ready to be eaten. Once again, he was amazed that she was so considerate and thoughtful. She would have never done anything like this for Spike, for him. William, on the other hand, was getting to be spoiled.

She took a huge bite out of her ham sandwich and grinned at him as he did the same.

"Tonight," she spoke around the mouthful, "we can sit and talk about being a vampire and all the things that come with the whole package. Sound good?"

He shook his head yes, eyes twinkling. 'Shall be very interesting to find out what the slayer has to say about vampires indeed.' Spike mused.

TBC

Disclaimer: Everyone should bloody well know by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Yeah, right. Who was he kidding? He was now completely bored out of his somewhat sane mind. Four long hours to have to put up with the thoughts of "William" who was telling him, Spike, that he was doing wrong. Wrong! Spike doing something wrong? Hello? Evil! When did he ever do anything that was right? Unless it benefited him of course.

"Bloody, stupid conscience," he muttered under his breath. He had already watched Passions, tried to take a "cat nap", which when your conscience is on overdrive, doesn't work very well, and had a snack of warm blood and Weetabix. He gripped the couch cushions on either side of him, threw his head back and growled with disgust.

"Oh," he perked up. "Neat. I almost forgot about this beauty." He reached under the cushion he was sitting on and withdrew the notebook he had stashed there earlier in the day. "This should keep me entertained at least until the bit gets home."

For the hour or so he read, grimaced, gagged, chuckled and rolled his eyes. He even jotted down a few things all the while thinking what a poufy poet William was compared to himself. Spike would never admit to anyone that he still actually wrote poetry every once in a while. He had all his works rather well hidden in his crypt so no one would ever be the wiser of his pasttime.

He heard Dawn walking up the steps of the front porch and stuffed the notebook back into its original hiding place just until he could find a better place to tuck it away in. She trudged through the doorway, looking like her day had gone to hell in a handbasket, so he greeted her with a pleasing smile.

"Hey, how's my little---Dawn?"

"Today was so unlikeable. Do I really have to finish school? Do I really have to graduate?"

"Well, um, it would probably be the wisest thing to do. Besides I think big sis would really like it if you did."

Dawn stared at him. "You know, everyday you start to sound more and more like Spike."

"Oh, sorry then." Spike cringed inwardly.

"No, no, don't be sorry. I like that. I mean don't get me wrong. I like you William, but I---I really miss Spike. He was fun and I could talk to him without feeling like a kid. He never talked down to me. He made me feel older."

"Ah, well, I can be fun. Wanna do something fun?"

"I better get my homework finished first."

"Oh, right. Better get the homework done."

"I'll be up in my room."

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Buffy came through the back door to find William sitting on a stool at the island reading the newspaper. He looked up when she entered giving her a warm and welcoming grin. She returned it and plopped her bookbag down in front of him.

"Do I really have to finish college?"

Spike chuckled at her. "Must run in the family genes. Dawn said the exact same thing, well, except for the end bit there."

"Yeah, well sometimes I wonder. Hey, I think we should order in tonight. Pizza sounds like a good comfort food right about now. Pizza and icecream. I think you will enjoy it, too."

"I---think that sounds feasible."

"Good. Pizza, icecream, movies and some vampire discussion."

As Buffy walked out of the kitchen, Spike rolled his eyes and snorted. "Oh, goody. Can't wait."

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

The evening carried on just as Buffy proclaimed it would. The three of them devoured a whole extra-large pizza with the works while watching a movie that Dawn picked out. A girly movie, of course, though Spike admitted it wasn't so bad except for the sniveling romantic parts. He suppressed a few snickers especially seeing the girls watch those specific parts so intently and dreamily. He was afraid he would have to leave the room if either of them started with the waterworks. Fortunately, both remained calm and in control of their emotions. At the end of it, Buffy caught him staring at the t.v. with a look on his face that could be best described as a 'What in the free world was that all about"?

"Good movie," he turned to them and grinned. Dawn and Buffy burst out laughing.

"Men never do get this movie, even if they *are* from the 19th century," Buffy giggled to her sister as Dawn aknowledged with an affirmative headshake.

Spike shrugged his shoulders and thought, 'That's a relief to know', before getting up and following the two into the kitchen. He watched as Buffy pulled out the carton of icecream out of the freezer, three bowls out of the cabinet, a dipper and three spoons out of the drawer and began to prepare a snack. She stopped before dipping some out and looked up at him.

"Oh, you want some icecream?"

"Maybe just a little."

She fixed his, Dawn declined as she grabbed a bag of chips, and finished scooping up three large scoops that barely fit into her bowl. Spike's eyes grew large at the proportion sitting in front of her.

"Well, I must say, I don't see where you can put all of that, slayer, with such a tiny frame. First pizza, now icecream, where does it all go?" Buffy's head snapped up and she glared at him even though he wasn't looking at her at the time being.

"The women I know, friends of my mother's, eat like little delicate birds. I often thought it ridiculous, nibbling on their tarts and finger sandwiches. I'm sure though once they were alone, they would scarf a three course meal down in one setting."

Buffy relaxed a bit after he continued rambling. Something suddenly just struck her oddly and she couldn't for the life of her put her finger on it. Oh well.

They sat in the kitchen while Dawn shuffled off to finish her homework before bedtime.

"So, how's it been going for you since you've,---you know, found out what you really are?" Buffy asked him around a spoonful of chocolate fudge ripple.

Spike scraped his bowl clean before plopping the spoon back in it. His brow furrowed as he cocked his head to the side. "Unbelievably easy, actually. My body tells me when I should---what did you call it? Feed?"

Buffy shook her head yes.

"So I do just that. It's still a bit hard to drink it, but I manage." He looked away.

"Any other strange things you've been experiencing?" Buffy picked up the bowls and walked them to the sink.

"For instance?"

She turned and crossed her arms, leaning up against the counter. "Like wanting to sleep through the whole day, stay up all night thing. Any urges you can't figure out?"

Spike's brows raised. Buffy cleared her throat and continued before walking back to her seat. "You know, like the sudden need to hunt, or kill, or maim something or someone."

"You're not scared I'm going to hurt you or Dawn, are you? Because I would never do such a thing, you know that, right?" He sounded hurt and bewildered at her last statement.

She looked at him in surprise and shook her head no. "No, I know, just that you couldn't anyway what with the chip and everything. I just wondered---if the thought was there. Like I sort of do with Spike all the time. I know he can't but I wonder if he really wants to."

"Ah, I understand where you're coming from. Never thought about it, I guess. It's like starting out new in the world. I suppose on down the road I may have the animalistic urges, but maybe in the state I'm in as of the moment, I can keep them tame and under control better. But I will be sure to let you know the second something occurs to throw me for a loop."

"And your senses. Do you notice a significant difference?"

"Oh yes, very much so. I have extremely good eyesight at night. My hearing, when I'm paying attention, is probably five times greater. I've also noticed a distinct smell wafting in from the back porch area. Either you have some dead animal close by or something or someone is leaving you odoriferous gifts."

"Disgusting. I will check on that in the morning, thanks. And your strength; have you tested that?"

"Ah, I bent Dawn's lamp back into shape this afternoon. I---."

"Please, I don't want to know how it got bent in the first place. Or who's fault it was. So I will tell you a little about---well, you."

"The good part." He smiled at her.

"Well, first things first. I am the Slayer. I kill vampires and demons, and protect humans from such creatures. Now don't go ballistic. You're still here, aren't you? I'll tell you why. I met you, or rather Spike about 3 years ago. He came to town with his vampire girlfriend, Drusilla, intending to take and kill my then boyfriend, who happened to be the sire to Dru, by performing some kind of ritual to heal her sickness, or at least the physical one."

"Where is this Drusilla?"

"I don't think we really know. She left you, or Spike that is, last year, I think he said for a chaos demon---or maybe it was a fungus demon---or vice versa. Anyway, she left him because he had helped me defeat Angelus, the soulless vampire who used to be my boyfriend."

Inside, Spike was reeling with anger from having to listen to the facts about Dru's dismissal of him and her affairs. If not bad enough, she brought up the name Angelus, which caused a sour taste to form in the back of his throat. He remained calm while she continued her talk.

"Anyway, Spike and Dru left, only for him to return almost six months later the first time she cheated on him. I guess she didn't like the fact that he had helped me save the world from going to hell. Spike left Sunnydale again for almost a whole year, but returned when Dru cheated on him again. That and he came looking for the ring of Amarra."

"Amarra?"

"It was a fabled ring that supposedly made a vampire completely immortal while it was worn. Needless to say Spike found it, which caused another one of our many battles with one another in which I kicked his ass."

Spike began to cough. Buffy looked up and smiled at his reaction. He shook his head and cleared his throat.

"So, I take it we've had many fights with one another? Yet, we both seem very much alive and now sitting here together in your kitchen talking civilly."

"Well, I'm getting to that. Not too long after that incident when I took the ring away from him, he was captured by this team of secret underground army guys called The Initiative."

"The chip."

"Yes, they implanted Spike with a microchip. It was to, well basically neuter him. Keep him from harming and feeding on humans. He came to me and the scoobies looking for help and we basically took him in. Spike, reluctantly may I add, helped us from time to time, of course for money and other such items. Just recently, maybe a couple of months ago, he tried to have the chip removed. I never did find out why but I think he was afraid he was changing, becoming good, fighting against the evil he had been a part of for so long."

"Hmm, and did that have any affect on you?"

"I had a hard time trusting him especially when he went behind my back to get the chip taken out. We fight all the time, verbally, physically. One time, a little old lady was walking by when we were arguing and thought we were married." Buffy began to laugh. Spike smiled at hearing the sound then joined in with her. Finally the laughter slowly subsided.

"He had been starting to act a bit out of sorts lately."

'What do you mean?"

"A lot more kind and courteous, especially towards me. Less fighting and when we do, it seems as if he lets me win. Dawn thinks he has a crush on me, or, hmm, let me see what word would you understand? Affections? What do you think?"

Spike tensed and sat up straight, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. "IIIIIII---," he drawled out.

The telephone rang suddenly and Buffy jumped off her seat and ran to get it. Spike dropped his chin to his chest and released a lungful of air he was holding. His mind raced; he didn't know exactly what to say to her. Hopefully she would forget her question when she got off the phone. She hung up and walked back towards him.

"That was Giles. He was getting ready to close up the Magic Box when a certain warlock walked in. Giles is going to try to keep him preoccupied so I gotta run. I should be back before midnight so let Dawn know where I'm at, ok?"

Spike shook his head yes as she took off through the living room and out the front door. He sat there a bit, dumbfounded. Was it a good thing that she was going to be able to talk to the warlock who got him into the mess in the first place, or was it going to be trouble yet again for good ol' Spikey? He sprawled his top half out on the island and groaned desperately.

TBC

Disclaimer: Everyone should bloody well know by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Her mind fought an ongoing battle all the way to the Magic Box, two sides against each other. Her body must have been reacting to it because she found herself most of the time walking at top speed but at other times her feet felt like lead weights and she struggled to take the next step. 'What is wrong with me?' the question plagued her over and over.

On one hand, she was beginning to enjoy having William around. He was extremely nice, well mannered, kind and courteous. He was capable of doing a lot of amazing things that she never would have guessed in a million years Spike knew how to do. Maybe she thought she could mold him into someone she would rather have around more often than the annoying reality that was Spike. On the other hand, and deep down in the folds of her mind, she missed Spike. She missed arguing with him, missed the spontaneity of him showing up out of nowhere, though sometimes that got a bit disturbing how he knew where she was and what was going on, and she had to admit, she missed giving him a good smack every now and again. Why ,oh why, couldn't the two of them, Spike and William, just come together and be a perfect little---a perfect little---Spilliam.

Buffy stood outside the shop doors and wrestled with the decision she had yet to make. Well, it wouldn't hurt she supposed, to just talk to the warlock. Make sure nothing bad was going to happen to William or Spike from the remnants of the curse. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and marched into the shop, shoulders squared. Giles was the only one standing in the room.

"Uh, Giles," Buffy whined. "You let him get away, didn't you?"

"Well, it wasn't from lack of trying, I do say. I kept him here as long as I could without risking myself or any appendages. But----." Giles looked positively giddy as he walked over to the cash register.

"I am now in possession of one Sherman Henderson's address."

"Wow, I'm impressed. Did he buy anything unusual? Any witchcrafty stuff?"

"Just a few herbs, oils and whatnot. Nothing out of the ordinary. Here you go, you may even beat him home."

"Thanks, Giles. I owe you one. No, no, I take that back. I think your IOU list is much longer than mine. So, strike that off the record. I'll talk to you later." Buffy teased.

"Be careful, Buffy. You never know who you're dealing with on the hellmouth." Giles sounded overly concerned.

"Got it. Night."

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Buffy dashed all thoughts from her head as she made her way down the street to Mr. Henderson's house. Except for that one. Mr. Henderson. Did that sound like a threatening name? Mr. Henderson. Mr. Sherman Henderson.

"Hi, I'm Sherman Henderson, warlock extraordinare. For my next curse, I'm going to turn you into a frog." Buffy giggled uncontrollably as she shuffled along the the walk.

She turned the corner onto the next street and suddenly found herself standing in front of the house at 1520 Hardy Street and with hands on her hips, stood there and just stared. It was a typical English Tudor style house and everything about it looked pleasant and homey. The walk to the door was lit as well as the front door which held a beautiful wreath of wildflowers centered around a brass knocker. Buffy told herself though, looks can be deceiving, especially living on the Hellmouth.

She knocked respectfully on the door and a young girl about Dawn's age or younger answered it. The girl smiled sweetly at the stranger, Buffy, upon seeing her.

"I've been expecting you. Do come in. Tea will be served in a moment. We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Come in and sit a spell with us." She waved her hand towards a brightly lit room just off of the hallway.

Buffy walked towards the doorway and peered in. The little room was decorated in a Victorian style with cut glass wall sconces illuminating it. Dolls and stuffed animals were sitting all around on every piece of furnture as well as around a small wooden table that was set with delicate china plates, cups and saucers. Shiny silverware placed on cloth napkins were also a part of the table setting.

A man, who was much older than the girl, walked out into the hall drying his hands on a dishtowel, in which he casually draped over his shoulder when finished and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Anessa, who are you talking to, dear? Oh---I'm very sorry. I didn't realize we had company." He sincerely said.

"Mr. Henderson? Sherman Henderson I presume?"

He let his arms slowly fall to his sides and his eyes formed into slits as he glared at her intensely.

"Do I know you?"

"In a way."

The girl crossed in between them as she headed back into the tea room with a tea kettle all the while humming a soft melody.

"As I was saying, in a way." Buffy quickly marched towards the man at the end of the hallway, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pushing him hard up against the wall.

"Wha---who are you?" he gasped out.

"I'm the slayer---and I know who you are. Or what you are." Her voice became slightly threatening as she growled the last words out.

"What I am?" He seemed surprised.

"You threatened a vampire that I know last Friday night. In fact, I'm pretty sure you cast a spell on him, cursed him somehow. Made him lose his memory. If it wasn't for me, he probably would have ended up dying."

"And that's a bad thing? Can I stand on my own two feet and talk cordially with you?" He didn't seem all too afraid of the Slayer at the moment. Buffy slowly lowered him back to the ground but kept a firm hand against his chest.

"You're standing now. I don't trust you though to completly let go. So spill."

"I *am* a warlock, yes. You do have that bit of information correct. And yes, I did cast a spell on the excruciatingly annoying vampire last week. He acted like he was some sort of hero, a white knight rescuing a damsel in distress."

"Well, he did say you were standing over an unconcious girl and working some kind of magic spell on her."

"Yes, correct. " He lifted his arm and pointed to something behind Buffy.

"That girl." The man said softly. Buffy held onto him tight as she warily turned her head to stare at the young girl now standing wide-eyed in the doorway clutching a dolly tight to her chest, her bottom lip slightly quivering. Buffy's head snapped back around and glared at the warlock.

"Who is she to you and what were you doing with her?" Buffy asked tensely.

"She's my little sister. I've been her guardian ever since our parents died ten years or so ago. She has a tendency to wander off, and get a little out of control. You see, Miss----uh, Slayer, she has a bit of the witchcraft in her as well, but she is not mentally capable of handling it. She's always been this way, was born mentally challenged, a little slow. But she knows she can do certain things; they're not always good things, and they tend to wreak havoc on our fair little town and it's patrons. Last Friday, I found her in the middle of a demon bar. I got to her in time; they were about to have her for their little party. I think I hurt a few of the party goers,of course, not meaning to and I had to knock her out and take her to my mother's grave in the cemmetery. I was casting a spell, yes. It was a leash in a way. Something to stabilize Anessa, her mind, spirit and body. Keep her from wandering off. Then that crude vampire attacked me."

Buffy removed her hand from the man's chest. "Well, he tends to over react sometimes. But I think he was just trying to help the girl who he thought was a victim and in danger."

"I don't understand. He's a vampire. A creature of the night. Why would he be helping humans?"

Buffy sighed and shook her head. "It's a long story. He's handicapped himself. He has a chip in his head that keeps him from harming humans and killing them. But he can fight demons. He has kind of in a way come to our side to help me and my friends in the slaying department. So you see, Mr. Henderson, he was trying to rescue the damsel in distress as you say. He just didn't wait to find out the whole story. And I can't believe I am standing up for him. You are correct in one assumption. He *is* an annoying vampire, in more ways than I care to explain. But he has become an ally, almost a friend. And I'm sorry if he disrupted your plans. But can you help me with whatever you have done with him?"

"This is strange, so very odd. Did you know that he is in love with you?"

Buffy's mouth dropped open. "The what? Who? Huh?"

"The way he went on and on about you. How you were going to find me and tear me into little pieces because he couldn't do it himself. Now I understand why he couldn't. He spoke very highly of you."

"You don't say. In love with me? I think you're mistaken about that."

He crossed his arms and smiled. "Not so sure about that. And what is wrong with him? The curse I performed on him was just a raillery. Something to throw him off balance, teach him a vital lesson on who he can and cannot mess with. He said he was a pathetic human formerly so I made him lose all memory of his vampire existence. It was only a 48 hour spell, Slayer. He should have been back to his normal, belligerent self around midnight Sunday night, or Monday morning whichever way you want to look at it. He should be alright now. Right as rain."

"But I don't understand. He's still William, his human self. Why would he- ----ohhhh. Oh, now I see. I think I'm catching on and seeing things clearly now. I just may have to do him some bodily harm after all."

"Slayer?"

"It's Buffy. I do apologize for coming in here all up in arms about this."

"Apology accepted. I think, Buffy, that your vampire friend may have liked being human, or maybe liked the way he was being treated as his human self. I may be wrong but---then again, he could just be playing with your head. Trying to get the upperhand perhaps. I don't know him as well as you."

"Perhaps. All I know is that I'm gonna play my own little mind game with him. See how he likes it. Thank you again, and oh, by the way, don't threaten my slaying abilities ever again."

"Oh, never again, Slayer, never again."

Buffy turned and huffed as she left, seeing red almost the whole way back to Revello Drive. She had developed her own scheme to bring the vampire to his knees, knock him for a loop so to say. This was going to be fun.

A block away from her house, she stopped and calmed herself down enough to seem like everything was normal. She casually walked into the house and stopped in the foyer. Stunned, she slowly looked around and took everything in.

The living room and the dining room was all but sparkling clean. Everything had been dusted, vacuumed, and straightened. She heard commotion coming from the kitchen and quietly she made her way down the hall to the doorway.

He was standing at the sink drying the last dish that he had supposedly just washed. He slid it into the cabinet and turned around, jumping slightly and grabbing his chest at seeing Buffy leaning up against the doorframe.

"Buffy, you startled me. I didn't even realize you had come in. Must be off in another world, either that or my hearing is going. Could be an age thing." He chuckled at his own joke.

She continued to stare at him, amazed, even with knowing what kind of pratical joke he had been playing on her this whole time. She smiled sweetly.

"You've been cleaning."

He looked around and grinned. "Yep. Nothing better to do. And it beats sitting around and staring at the walls. Besides you have your hands full with everything else, I wanted to help out." He walked around the center island and leaned up against it, his hands grasping the edges on either side of him.

"Thank you. I really mean it, thanks." She slowly began to walk towards him.

He shrugged and smiled shyly. "Not a problem. Happy that I can help."

"Yes, but how will I ever repay you for your kindness, William?" Buffy drawled out seductively as she continued to walk towards him.

His eyes grew large as he stood up straight and pushed his hands into his front pockets of his pants. "Um, whatever do you mean?"

"Oh," her last step she took in one large stride as she ended up barely an inch away from his now trembling body. "I think you know what I mean, William."

"I, I, I'm sure I don't." He began to stutter.

Buffy placed her hands on the counter blocking him in and stood up on her toes as she stared deeply into his blue eyes. She noticed he was breathing now, almost raggidly.

"You've been doing so much around here, cooking, cleaning, helping Dawn with schoolwork, that I almost think you are doing these things because you want something in return." Buffy whispered.

"No, no," he croaked out. "I mean you've given me friendship, and kindness, a place to sleep not to mention all the things you've bought for me." His whole body was tingling and he felt the heat pouring off of her, warming him to his very---, well, if he had a soul it would be warm and glowing.

"Then can I give you another gift?"

"I---I suppose if you really want to," he whispered not knowing why he was acting so timid at the moment.

Buffy leaned forward and brushed her lips across his. Pulling back and looking at his face, she saw that he still had his eyes tightly closed. She smiled deviantly before leaning in again and plundering his cool, wet mouth with her tongue in a deep, seering, passionate kiss to end all kisses.

TBC

Disclaimer: Everyone should bloody well know by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Her mind reeled and screamed at her to stop the madness. But her body wasn't listening or worse yet it wasn't responding. The sensations that swept over her the instant she kissed him were consuming her from head to toe. She felt him tense up, felt his nerves twitch at her first touch, then he relaxed, his lips melding against hers, a wonderfully perfect fit. Both of them exploring each other's tantalizing mouths. Hers warm, his cool. Both open and wanting. Had it always been like this for her? Wanting and needing so much? Was this the cause of all the frustrations between them, the fighting, verbal shouting matches, the need she felt to inflict bodily hurt on him whenever he drove her to the brink of anger? Was all of it their way of foreplay?

She felt him gently grab her forearms and pull her even closer. The same time she wove her fingers through his hair above the nape of his neck and pressed, kneading, pulling him closer to her. She had an urge to breathe and broke away, heard him moan slightly at the loss of Buffy lips as she gasped and delved in for more. The only thing playing in the back of her mind during the scenario was how different he was compared to the other vampire that had existed in her life.

Thinking of Angel and kissing Spike sent her in a spiral. She suddenly knew she had to stop or else she may never want to. Her mind began to function clearly as she realized she was trying to pay him back for lying to her. Enact revenge.

'Think, damn it, Buffy think,' she screamed at herself.

She suddenly became quite aware of the visitor that arose between them and knew things had to be tapered off but quickly. She could easily just shut her mind off and let one thing lead to another. But, she knew, would only make matters worse and she needed some answers.

Buffy pulled away slowly even though his face followed her retreating one. Their foreheads touched slightly and she complied to him and stayed in that position.

"Spike?" she barely could speak.

"Hmmm?"

Buffy pulled back staring at him, saw his brow crease with the loss of her touch. As if right on cue, his eyes snapped open.

"I mean, Buffy, yes, me, William. Not Spike. Not---."

"Why did you call me Slayer earlier tonight?" He looked almost surprised by her question.

"What? When?"

"When I was dishing out my icecream. How did you know? How did you know I was the Slayer? I never told you and I know no one else told you and all my weapons are locked up. Why did you call me that?"

Spike was stunned into silence, his mind working on high speed.

"I'm sure you told me, Buffy. Didn't you? Maybe it's some of the residual memories of Spike. Yes, I believe---." Buffy backed away from him a few paces, arms crossed diligently over her chest.

"Don't give me that cockamamie story. Are you going to come clean? Tell me the truth?"

"Tell you the truth? I'm---I'm not sure what it is you want to hear. Buffy-- -," he tried to be reasoning.

"Fine. When did you get your memory back, Spike?"

"My---memory?"

She threw her arms up with disgust, sighed heavily and rolled her eyes.

"You know when you start repeating my questions back to me, it's a sure sign you are trying to come up with another lie to get yourself out of dutch."

There was an uneasy silence between the two. Spike finally shifted and groaned uneasily.

"Sunday night, sometime around midnight." He mumbled not looking at her. He lifted his eyes and looked at her almost pleadingly. "But Buffy---."

She held up a hand to silence him. "I don't want to hear anything right now. Leave. I don't want to see you back in this house or around any of my family or friends again. And Spike, that includes me."

She noticed the look of astonishment on his face as he stood staring at her. He didn't budge. She walked over to him, grabbed him by the arm and walked him briskly to the front door.

"Buffy," he growled out. "Please, let me explain."

"Not now!" she snapped.

She swung the door open swiftly and pushed him out onto the porch. He turned around, a look of hurt in his eyes, and took a step back towards the doorway.

"Buffy, I---I love you."

She scowled, a look of disgust apparent on her face as she shut the door and locked it. He placed his palm against it, leaning forward til his head touched the solid wood and sighed sadly. On the other side, Buffy had her back against it, eyes shut tightly with the lingering anger. She felt a twinge in the pit of her stomach and turning her head so her ear rested against the door, she knew he was still there.

"Go home," she said slightly above a whisper.

"I thought I was home," came the dejected reply from the other side. And then he was gone. Confusion, hurt, anger, longing all settled upon her shoulders. She pushed off from the door and began to sulk towards the basement.

"This was supposed to have a happy ending," she told herself as she walked down the steps. She started to punch at the bag hanging from the rafter, beating it to a pulp as she envisioned it being a certain vampire.

"Why does it always end up with the lying and betrayal, and deceipt, and--- and---anger, resentment, pain, hate, longing, needing, wanting, lusting, loving." She stopped the wailing on the bag and began to wonder.

"Wait! What? Did he say that he loved me? He can't---I mean there's no--- Can he?" She growled and unconciously began to destroy the basement, her temper giving away and going way out of control as things went flying this way and that. She kicked a small bookshelf with her foot and it toppled over, the paperback romances her mom stored down there to read while waiting on laundry scattering everywhere.

Something caught her attention and she stopped her assault on the inanimate objects now strewn across the dank basement floor. A notebook had been hidden behind the shelf and it looked like one of Dawn's school notebooks. Buffy took a few breaths to calm herself as she bent over to pick it up. In the bottom right corner were three letters. WEW. That didn't make sense, wasn't a familiar word that she knew of. She opened the front cover and saw the fluid script on the first page. She realized in a split second that it was not Dawn's nor her mother's handwriting. Which meant it could only be one other person's.

She heard loud footsteps above her and the basement door flew open. Dawn stepped down onto the second step.

"Buffy?" Dawn sounded scared.

"I'm here, Dawnie. Go on back to bed. Everything's fine, had a---" she looked around the messy basement. "a demon to tame. Got it under control so go to sleep now."

"Promise to tell me more tomorrow then?"

"Yes, I will. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Buffy."

She waited, listening for her sister's retreating steps to go back upstairs and then situated herself on the bottom step. On the first page, she realized it was really nothing but a bunch of words. Words like scared, nervous, confused and near the bottom turned into safe, caring, happy, loved. The letters WEW were written in the bottom corner again. How strange.

The second page was a short story. A sentimental story about his mother and his sister. Buffy felt guilty for reading something that so clearly came from his heart. He missed them dearly. When it ended with William's signature, she realized it wasn't a story, but a letter he had written to them. Ok, so yes, maybe he was capable of love. But he thought he was human then. Did it matter? This would go against everything Buffy was ever told about vampires and the demons who took over their bodies. Was it possible for vampires to keep any form of humanity? She didn't know if she should continue on. It was almost like reading someone's diary.

She flipped through the pages and noticed most of them contained basically poems. A few were short and didn't really mean very much to her. She never really did understand the benefits of reading poetry. Four bold words in particular caught her eye as she slowly sifted through the filled pages.

HER NAME IS BUFFY was written all in capital letters and under it a poem. She felt the stronge urge to read it.

Who is this being that flitters to and fro,

Constant on the go.

A stranger perhaps but strange no less,

For when I see her now, pure comfort and tenderness.

Lest I forget the feeling I embued upon my first sight.

Maddening confusion, deafening silence, creeping fright.

Til I heard her speak twice the time.

Gentleness flowed from her lips to ears of mine.

I cannot say what has come over me this day.

The fears, uncertainties have melted away.

Her kind and caring gifts she has bestowed,

has created new feelings that I have never known.~~

Below it was his name, William Edward Winters, III, in beautiful script. So that was what the WEW stood for. She never knew Spike had such beautiful handwriting either. But, she recalled, she had never seen anything written in his hand before, well, until tonight.

She continued going through the notebook and came across a sappy love poem she knew was written for her. Had to be since it described her and her features. She was a little embarrassed after reading it. She realized then that William had fallen for her. Great, wonderful. What was it about her that not only made Spike fall for her but his human alter ego go for her as well? She sat and pondered the question. Couldn't figure anything out.

The rest of the pages were mostly blank except for a few doodles, a few words scattered here and there. She was about ready to close the notebook when the last page fluttered open. It was dated today, well yesterday since it was now in the early morning hours of the next day, this day, and oh nevermind. It was Tuesday. There seemed to be written a few choice Spikisms, especially about the "bloody poufter William" and his "sappy Buffy love poems". Some things caught her off guard though. Spike had written a short paragraph, almost an oath if you will, depicting promises he must have thought that he could keep. Promises to: 'protect her and hers, watch over them, help her fight the baddies and keep her town safe from harm, and to fight by her side til the end of time, whenever that was.' But the one that made her gasp outloud was the last sentence. 'To love her forever and always, to never leave her, and to give her what she deems she rightly deserves.'

She felt her eyes began to burn as they travelled down the page. The page actually ended with a poem that she knew was written by the vampire himself but in the still flawless script she was sure would always be a constant of his human side. She gently shut the notebook, sighed wearily and headed back upstairs, coveting the book closely to her chest. It would rest under her pillow tonight. She would give it back to him in the morning after she got out of class.

TBC

Disclaimer: Everyone should bloody well know by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

He had been pacing the floor of his crypt for so long, he was beginning to form a rut in the ground. So many emotions were hitting him all at once. Anger, bitterness, hatred. How did she do it? How did she always bollocks up everything he planned? Never failed; she was always one step ahead of him and he was growing exhausted from it all. He was a mastermind of evilness. Well, at least he used to be before he was turned into an enfeebled ponce. He growled.

He would finish what he started, be rid of the slayer once and for all. All she did was cause him pain and frustration. Having the damn chip in his head was holding him back. But there were ways around that, had to be. He was a master vampire, by gum. He could get the job done one way or the other, when she least expected it and by god what was he saying? He stopped dead in his tracks and let out an earth shattering roar to the heavens.

"See what you do to me, you silly bint?" He started pacing again, talking outload to no one in particular.

"I tried to explain, but no, she didn't want to listen. She had been so different, so kind, so nice. Of course, at the time she thought I was William, but, well, in a way I am. No, no I'm not. I'll never be *him* again. The poufter. But she liked him, I could tell. And," he stopped suddenly as if realizing something important. "And I told her I loved her."

Spike moaned and plopped down in his well worn chair, dust billowing and settling around him. He threw one leg over the arm and laid his head on the back of the seat cushion. His thoughts rambled on.

'She kissed me. Just walked right up to me and kissed me. Did she know who I was when she did that? Did she know what it would do to me?'

He lifted his head up and groaned again. "She's such a tease. Got me all worked up for what? Nothing but to kick me out of her house, out of her life."

His head drifted back down as he stared at the ceiling of his crypt. But oh, what a kiss it was. 'I have *never* felt *anything* like that in my whole entire existence.' He told himself, almost reassuringly. His eyes began to slowly drift close as all the previous evening's excitement waned. He wanted nothing but sweet, comforting, non-violent Buffy dreams to occupy his sleep. As well, he did.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Buffy, on the other hand, did not sleep the sleep of the dead. She attributed it to the obnoxious blonde vampire, who she had kicked out of her house and supposedly out of her life only hours ago and who was still plaguing her mind. She recalled the look on his face when he had turned around on the porch and told her those 3 awful words. Awful because they came from his mouth, in his voice. Something she never expected to hear from that pernicious, blood sucking fiend. Ok, so maybe those words were a bit too harsh to describe Spike especially in the present state he was in. An irritating nuisance was more his speed nowadays.

Realization took hold and reminded her that he had been subservient lately, patrolling with her, fighting the baddies, even watching out for her little sister. Now her mind was guilt-ridden. And it was riddled with questions she herself could not answer. She suspected the warlock had a point. Maybe Spike was enjoying the family setting. He was actually good at acting like William when he wasn't really William. Was that all it was though, just an act? Or was it genuine?

Buffy rolled onto her back and pushed her fingers through her hair, groaning slightly. She had suddenly remembered she had never given him a chance to explain anything. She was her usual bitchy self and gave him the usual heave-ho right out the front door. And that was after the pleasurable lip lock routine she had planned ahead of time to tease and torture him with. Never expected it to have any effect on her whatsoever. Now she knew better. Now it was too late to take it back.

Her mind rambled on as she drifted off to slumber a few hours before daybreak.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

She was looking tired, the dark circles apparent under her eyes that she had tried her best to cover up before leaving the house. She strolled defiantly through the familiar graveyard and up to the door of his crypt, her backpack hanging loosely from her shoulders. She never wavered as she pushed the door aside letting in a stream of sunlight as she did so.

Spike propelled himself out of the chair and whirled around to see who had intruded his living quarters. That and he thought briefly that he might just want to move the sodden chair a bit farther away from the door, where it seemed he could easily get toasted if he fell asleep in it again.

Great! The Slayer. Just who he wanted to see right at this moment and him with a bloody crick in the neck to boot. He dropped his head and sighed loudly.

"What, love? Didn't finish telling me off enough last night? Come here to kick me out of my own crypt and send me on my way now? You know you have no bleeding right to just barge on in here. It's not your place."

"And neither is it yours. Its," her mind wandered to recall the name that was on the top of the mausoleum. "it's the Thompsons'."

"They're not living enough to enjoy it anymore so it's become a community dwelling. Besides, more than 50% of the stuff in here is mine, so, yes it is my place."

Buffy shut her eyes and sighed helplessly. "You know, Spike, as much as I'd like to chat about property assessments right now, it's not what my intentions were for coming here."

"Oh, do tell then, Miss high and mightiness of the goody-goodies." Spike chanted with a sarcastic tone.

Buffy stared at him in disbelief. She smirked and shook her head back and forth. "You know, what was I thinking? You're still the same annoying headache and you will never change. And here I thought I would give you the benefit of the doubt, even apologize for not giving you a chance to explain the circumstances of your lying to me. But I'm finished here. The law still stands Spike. Stay out of my sight."

She turned in a huff and walked towards the crypt door. Spike was stunned speechless. He took a step towards the retreating Slayer.

"Buffy?" he called her hoping she would stop. She did stop, but whirled around in disgust, pulling her backpack off in one swift movement.

"Here, I found this in the basement. I'm sure you'll want it back."

Spike's eyes widened and he gulped when he saw the familiar notebook in Buffy's hand. He suddenly became timid and slowly walked towards the proffered tablet. On a whim, she pulled it back and behind her. His outreached arm was left in midair as he glared at her.

"Buffy, please, may I have it back," he tried to sound polite, but it came out between gritted teeth.

"What's in it?" She asked, sounding curious.

"Nothing," his voice was void of any emotion as he lowered his arm back down to his side. Buffy noticed his hands were clenched and that he was getting upset. Why, she didn't know. She hadn't meant to tease him anymore.

"Are you sure? Cause I was sure there was some stuff written in here." She made to flip through the pages and noticed him move towards her quickly.

"Buffy, don't.----Please don't," the last words were barely a whisper.

She looked up at him and saw, what? Fear? Sadness? Embarrassment? She couldn't quite tell. She clutched the notebook to her tightly and took another step forward, standing only a few inches away from him now.

"I'll give it back to you if----if you read one of them."

Spike's mouth dropped open and he backpedaled a couple of steps, placing one hand on his hip, the other running through his already mussed hair as he turned away from her.

"You read it, didn't you?" he gruffily asked.

"Honestly? I read some of it." There was no teasing in her reply.

He couldn't stand there and take her honesty too well. Anger and bitterness rose up and choked him and he growled, grabbing a small table and throwing it up against the wall, shattering it into pieces. Buffy stared at him, non- plussed, allowing him some time to cool down.

"Are you finished? Because frankly, I'm not sure why you are in such an upheaval about it. It's really quite---nice. You write beautifully."

Spike slowly turned to look at her, disbelieving her remarks. But the look on her face told him otherwise. It astounded him. No one, not one person, human or demon, had told him such things. Not even Dru, who had been with him the longest. Of course no one really got the chance to read any of his works because he always had them hidden away in some secret, safe place.

"You---you think---you like them?" He was stuttering again, which he seemed to always do whenever the shyness appeared. He shook his head to try and clear his mind.

Buffy shook her head yes. "A couple of them even made me cry. Why do you seem so shocked?"

"I---I never let anyone read my poems. I---I'm not very good."

"Well, I know I'm no expert, but I think they are extraordinary. The emotions you put down on paper are so vivid. You wrote about someone, someone special to you it seemed like. I could tell---."

"Buffy, those were about you." There he did it. He let the cat out of the bag now. He felt like running into the dark corner and hiding his face from all, never to come back out. He looked away momentarily while she looked down at the book in her hand. She held it out to him one more time.

"Will you read the last one to me? I would really like to hear you read it." Buffy swore if he hadn't been a vampire, he would have blushed. He seemed flustered. She chuckled to herself. A Master vampire flustered.

A moment of silence passed, neither of them moving until Spike began to casually stroll towards her, reaching out and gently taking the notebook from her. He turned and walked to the sarcophagus and leaned against it while flipping through the pages, stopping on the very last one. He looked up at her once more before clearing his throat to read.

**"She's out of my grasp, out of my reach.

She dances in the darkness,

Twirling and swirling under the stars,

Playing with danger in the face of grace.

Dances in the dark all around me,

Yet she belongs to the light,

the blinding but comforting light.

So far from where I belong.

I am profoundly in awe

whilst left in my solitude knowing

She's out of my reach."

His voiced trailed off as he ended the reading. He hadn't noticed Buffy had moved from her standing position and was now seated across from him on the arm of his shabby chair. He slowly dropped his hands down and stole a quick glance at her but couldn't afford himself to stare at her for too long.

"That was---nice. Even better with you reading it. It had more meaning by you reading it. Thank you."

He released a breath he had been holding. "I'm sorry---sorry for lying, sorry for---for everything. I just---I don't know, I haven't felt like that in a long time. I realized how much I miss my family. Ever since they put this chip in my head, leashing this demon I carry, I've been so lost. Not knowing what to do, where to go. Buffy, will you believe me if I tell you I really want to help you?"

She looked away for a second before answering. "Yes, I think you do." She stood. "I think I know what you're wanting from me as well. It's undeniable that there were certain feelings stirred up recently. Will you understand if I tell you I'm not ready to have a second go at another unethical relationship at this time?"

Spike looked away sadly. She hurriedly continued. "I didn't say never. You've made me realize there is more to all this slaying business than good versus evil. You have more humanity in you than some humans I know. That's saying a lot. So, no, I'm not saying never. I just need time."

He smiled slightly as he turned to look back at her. "Yes, I do understand, and I can wait. It's not like I'm going anywhere, right? And here." He held his notebook out to her as she started to make her way out of the crypt.

"You take this. They were written for you, anyway. I want you to have it."

Buffy took it from him, staring at the royal blue cover a bit. "Thank you." She slid an arm around him, hugged him tenderly and placed a sweet kiss on his cheek before releasing her hold and walking towards the door.

"Patrol with me tonight?"

"You can count on me being there."

"I know I can."

She only opened the door slightly as to not let much sun in before leaving Spike alone to contemplate the turn of events. The future was looking bright indeed.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

**A/N2 Okeydokey, so I made a last minute decision to not have them jumping into each others arms exactly. They both know the feelings are there. But, if you want, and if I have enough responses, I can write a future epilogue. Maybe, say six months later or so? So you can see where the dynamic couple are in terms of their relationship. I will if you want!! Otherwise I will leave it to your imaginations.

Oh and I once again wrote the poem in this chapter. This time I had to think of how Spike would write. Hope it was good!

Disclaimer: Everyone should bloody well know by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

I can tell the sun is setting. I know it is cause I feel it. It's hard to describe the feeling. It's just a part of the whole vampire package; sort of my own internal alarm clock. I'm just gonna lay here a while longer and wait. I can't help but smile because I know. I know she will be here soon, very soon. She stops by every night at the same time. Has been for over four weeks now. At first her friends thought she was just overly enthusiastic about going on patrol. But, well, in a way I guess she was.

Four weeks ago. It was four weeks from today to be precise. That's when she had said it; when she told me she was ready. First time in a long time that I was speechless. Cause you know, I do admit, I have a tendency to run a bit at the mouth. Overcompensation from my human years when I'd rather put my words down on paper. You can't be a badass though with a pen, especially when you're a Master vampire, the Big Bad.---Well, I do ramble on sometimes. I'm working on it, a'right? For her mostly. She's reminded me a few times how annoying it gets, me not keeping my mouth shut, especially when we are fighting the baddies together. Now, stop right there. Don't you even began. I'm not whipped. I never have been, never--- oh, bloody hell, never mind.

Soon. I slowly sit up on my makeshift stone bed and decide I better get dressed. Uh, forgot what I was saying. I *am* almost 130, so sod off. *Anyway*, the last four weeks have been---well, bloody amazing for lack of a better word. Now, don't get me wrong. The five months before then were nice. Who would have ever thought. A vampire and a slayer becoming friends; trusting and sharing. Never thought *I'd* see the day. Never thought *I'd* be that vampire. No thought of her ever staking me. No thought of me ever biting her.

Of course word got around the demon venue, (and why wouldn't it in a town full of demons to begin with?), that I was being controlled by the Slayer. One night, I was attacked by a gang of vheroyhl demons---ugly buggers. Seems I had pissed the lot of them off after I had surreptitiously (yeah, yeah, I did matriculate) killed one of their species when he had decided to attack a lil' girl out walking her dog. She reminded me so much of lil' bit, I just couldn't let the brute do his deed. So, I surprised him, showed up in game face. He was willing to share in the kill. I don't like to brag-- --well, I do,---but he never knew what hit him. I'm so good---- ooh--- cringing now. I said "that" word. Oh, who am I kidding? I lived 100 years being the scourge of Europe. Thought I'd never live to say this, but I like being on the other side for once. Gives me a feeling of peace I thought I'd never be able to know again.

Grrr, I got off track again, I know. Anyway, this gang had me surrounded and they brought an audience. I had no weapons, no backup, no way out. By the time *she* showed up, I had offed four of the 12. I was bloodied and bruised but I never gave up. She had brought the friggin' calvary. I knew then that she cared. We fought side by side that night, the first of many. I even saved Giles and the whelp, oh, I mean Xander, from losing their heads, literally. The audience had thinned quite considerably before we finished off the rest of the gang. Needless to say, I haven't had any other trouble since then. That night, I was accepted into the circle. With open arms, well, from some of them. A member of the slayerettes, a scooby. Me. Funny, I sorta felt all bubbly and tingly inside----oh, just shut your gob.

It was a bit disconcerting at first, you know, everyone being so nice to me. Sorta gave me the wiggins. Yeah, now you know I've been around Buffy too much. The two lovebirds were like two mother hens constantly asking me how I was and doing things for me. I've never had anyone do things for me. To open my crypt door and find little surprises on my doorstep. Homemade cookies, books, journals, a beautiful fountain pen. Even one time I found a cooler with fresh blood in it. I never felt so warm in all my life or unlife. Joyce is the same way, and I hafta admit I'm getting used to it. I think Joyce is a mother to all of us really, not just Buffy and the bit. I miss my mum; that's what's so perfect, Joyce fills that void now.

Giles began asking for my opinions, especially regarding certain demons and their habits. Most of the time, I could give him answers or tell him where to find the answers. In that case, I offered to help with research. I think that stunned him. He's a great mate to talk to about being a vampire, answers certain questions I may have whenever the need arises.

Harris, well, let's just say he and I are complete opposites. It took a while for the two of us to even be able to stay in the same room together long enough without a verbal match developing. One night a few months ago I ran into him at the Bronze, by himself, which was off kilter anyway. He's the type of person who always has someone with him but that night he was alone. Seems him and his demon bird had a spat. He wanted to know if I felt like shooting some pool together. (That was another one of those speechless times.) Then the wanker went off and asked *me* for advice. *Me*!

We ended up talking, and I mean real actual talking. Found out he had lost his best mate right after meeting the Slayer. He had been turned and Xander was forced to stake him or else die at the hands of his vamped friend. Hard choice to make, I'm sure. Now I know why he hates vampires, any vampire, to this day.

I told him I was sorry. Yes, I was sincere. That was all it took. We've been mates, drinking buddies, pool pals, ever since. In fact, and I don't tell just anyone about this, he saved my life one night. Of course, I don't think he knew he was doing it at the time. We were both three sheets to the wind. I won't go into details but he moved me out of the way just in the nick of time. Or else I'd be sitting here today in an ashtray. Go figure, the one person who I truly despise ends up being a mate. Don't go off and flapping your trap about this to everyone now.

Xander's girl, Anya. We get along, sometimes. We can both relate to the other because I bear a demon and she used to be one. We're the oldest of the bunch. The stories she can tell, fascinating. There are times, though, I just want to haul off and slap her silly. And most of that time is when she opens her hole; she has a way with words I'm guessing. Maybe that will change in time. Maybe.

My nibblet, Dawn. We've grown close. Now don't get your knickers in a bunch. Close in a non-perverted kind of way. I take her out on ice cream runs, rent movies together and play her silly games. She comes to me when she is having problems with big sis. I'm sort of a referee between them and it works out. I guess I'm like an older brother. A much, much older brother. Okay so I'm soft on the girl. I like having a sister again. Moving on.

Buffy. Well, what can I say about Buffy. She's---Buffy. After the little incident with the memory loss and with my whole plan backfiring, she showed up here, at my crypt, to apologize. Apologize to me about not giving me a chance to explain. Never in my right mind would I have thought that she would ever give me any kind of chance what-so-ever.

She had found my poetry, well, and William's too, and had read it. I was so furious when I found out. I almost vamped out but instead took my frustrations out on an unsuspecting piece of furniture. It helped, a'right? Anyway come to find out she liked it, she truly liked it. Said it was beautiful and wanted me to read the one *I* wrote.

That was the same day she told me to never say never. She was giving me a crumb when she asked me to give her time. And that time in between has been---nice. We became friends, real, true, honest friends. We've both lived longer than what was expected, we've both seen things that no one can even comprehend, and we both have fought our inner demons to become better. But none of this compares to the night that she said those words. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. It wasn't *those* words but it was a start.

We had just finished with a sweep of the last cemetery. Not much happened that night, a few vamps dusted and that was it. But on our way out we were confronted by a horde of them. The first few were easy pickings. The last were a bit tougher. I kept an eye out on the slayer and that got me into a world of trouble. I was attacked by four of them coming from all directions. I dusted two, wearing myself out before the last two took me down. Bloody wankers knocked me out. Apparently, they met their ends with a pointy stick. When I opened my eyes, an angel appeared.

My Slayer, golden locks hanging down around her face looking over me with tears in her eyes. She helped me to my feet then threw herself at me. I thought I was going to be in a world of hurt, but instead she hugged me fiercely. A bit painful, yes, but oh, what a rush. To have her in my arms, to smell her sweet slayer musk. She was still crying and I tried soothing her the best I could. I pulled back and asked her what was wrong.

She said, "I thought I lost you. I saw you fighting those vamps but when I looked again, there were only the two of them and no you. They were laughing and I was sure they dusted you. I was so upset I didn't even notice you were here until after I staked the bastards."

I told her she would have a harder time than that to get rid of me. I'm not easy to get rid of. I wiped the tears away from her face and she stared at me. My stomach starting going wonky on me, flipping and flopping around. She smiled so sweetly at me, placed a hand on each side of my face and pulled me to her. I wrapped my hands around her wrists, not wanting to lose her touch. I swear my heart started beating right then and there. She whispered, actually catching me off guard.

"I want---I want an us. I'm ready for an us."

My breath, or rather my words since I don't breathe, caught in my throat and I almost choked. I know the look on my face must have seemed strange to her, that with the combination of the speechlessness. I was just in utter shock, wasn't prepared for what she had said. Inside I was dancing with joy, but nothing on the outside wanted to work.

"Spike? Did you hear what I said?"

I at least blinked, showing my comprehension. Still couldn't talk---bloody wanker. So I swept her up into my arms and started turning her around in circles. I was pretty happy I guess you could say. We both were laughing by the time I stopped and put her back on solid ground not wanting to let go.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Isn't she cute? Heh, I can't believe I just said that. One would never have thought that a slayer could ever be called cute. My Buffy is, when she wants to be. She's also deadly, vicious, gentle, loving, and beautiful to boot. Alright, so I'm biased.

As I was saying, and this is the good part, I finally was able to utter something audible. I said yeah. One of the biggest moments of my whole existence and all I can mutter is a yeah? The best part though is when she reached up and kissed me. I realize we've kissed before, but this in short was our first real kiss. How poignant that we were standing in the middle of a cemetery surrounded by dusty remnants from our previous battle. I put everything that I had within me and poured it into that kiss. I felt it in return. We both knew it wasn't going to be all sunshine and daisies on the road to happily ever afters. It was an uphill race that would have to be taken slowly and cautiously. And you know me, I never give up once I start something.

Well, the sweet kiss ended and we stood there for a bit. She trying her best to catch her breath, me, I'm sure, smiling like a complete dolt. She wanted me to go with her to the Bronze, meet up with the gang. She also asked if we could not tell anyone yet about us. She wanted her time with me without the meddling interruptions from the peanut gallery for a while. She promised then that when we were ready, we would make an announcement to her friends. She said we. Ok, so yeah, I like it when I'm included. Haven't had much of that in, oh, say over the last decade or so. Not complaining now.

So there you have it. I'm not saying it's been an easy ride, but it's been interesting, exciting. We've had our ups and downs but what couple hasn't? I mean look and me and Dru. Right, maybe not a good comparison. I'm telling you though, me and Buffy? I wouldn't change a thing.

Hmm, she's late tonight. Wonder what's keeping her? I've been sitting her in front of a blank telly waiting for over 15 minutes now. I know when she is close by, I can sense her. That's another thing I couldn't explain to you if I tried. It's stronger when you're connected to that person, or demon, whatever the case may be.

Ah, almost forgot. I bought something for her. Just a little something that reminded me a little of her, of us. Sort of an anniversary gift I guess you can say. I mean, we have made it through one whole month which in this day and age is saying a lot. The velvet box is in my duster pocket. Let me show you before she comes whirling in.

It's a silver cross. I know, I know, like she doesn't have enough of those already. This one is different, I promise. In the center of it are two entwined gold hearts draped over the arms of the cross. I wanted her to know that she holds mine for all of eternity. Sappy, right? Oh well, if that's what I've become, so be it. I'm still bad---to a lesser degree. And now playing on the other side.

She's nearby now. Should I act like I don't know she's close or stand at the ready? Oh, why am I asking you? She already knows I anticipate this time everyday. I stand up just as the door flies open. Wouldn't be Buffy if the door didn't fly open. One of these days, methinks it might fall off its creaky, rusted hinges. Both of us smile but she's not walking towards me with outstretched arms as usual. I know my look changes, puzzlement, bewilderment, nervous fear.

"Aren't you going to say 'hello, luv'?" Well, um, she sounds a bit sultry. Is she flirting with me? She keeps lowering her gaze and what is up with her hands behind her back? Now I know better than to act nervous around her.

"Hello, luv." Did I sound nervous? Now she's playing with my emotions. She tsked me. Must have sounded nervous. Damn. What's this? She's looking at me lustfully, calling me over with her pouty lips and motioning me towards her with the bending of her finger, beckoning me to walk over to her. The one hand is still behind her. I swallow the niggling feeling down, sure that she heard me gulp and slowly, stealthily I slide over.

"What took you so long tonight, pet?" I ask , trying desperately not to peer over her shoulder as she yet again puts the other hand behind her.

"I had to stop along the way and pick---this." One hand has snuck out and she is holding a blood red rose in it. She drags the flower down my check, the velvety petals are soft but still tickle. I'm super-sensitive. She holds it out to me to take.

I tell her thanks and do the same thing to her except I run it from the bridge of her nose to her chin. I get a smile. And a kiss---but she cuts it off too quickly.

"I have something for you." Her other hand whips around and I notice it is wrapped around a stake. I jump back, surprised momentarily. She notices. Bugger.

"It's for you, you nitwit. I had it made especially for you. It even has your name engraved in it and it's mahogany. You said you liked mahogany if it wasn't sticking out of your chest."

Okay so I admit, the trust issue still needs to be worked on. It's harder than what it looks like to be dating a slayer, especially if you're a vampire. And the stake, it is beautiful, covered in intricate designs and hey, she wasn't lying. It does have my name on it. Neat.

"Thanks, pet. I love it." This time the kiss lasts a bit longer.

"Patrol, shall we?"

"We shall." As she turns, I remember the necklace. I said I'm gaining on 130, folks. The memory doesn't work as well as it used to. Now it's my turn to make her nervous.

"Stop! Don't turn around." I walk up to her swiftly, pull the necklace out discreetly making sure I don't touch the cross of course, lean over and whisper into her ear.

"Shut your eyes, luv, please."

She obeys for once. That's my girl. Her trust issues surmount my own I guess. I will work on that, promise. I place the necklace around her neck and clasp it, looking at the pendant now resting in the hollow of her neck. Beautiful. She reaches up and touches it, opens her eyes, then looks down at it. I hear a gasp. Next thing I know she is wrapping arms around my neck and planting kisses all over my face. Patrolling can wait a bit longer. I think you can see yourself out. I'm sure you will get to read other stories about our crazy adventures in the near future. So----bugger off.

The End

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**