Buffy looked at her watch. It was almost 1:30 a.m. She’d been here since five the previous morning. She enjoyed her new job more than she ever thought she would, but it required her to often times put in many hours. Giles had been right; training new slayers was tough. They were loud, rude, and never listened. Some were amazing students, but others made Faith look like an honor student. Ever since the final battle in Sunnydale, over 5 years ago, it had been the mission of Rupert Giles to rebuild the watchers council. It had taken him around two years to get everything ready. Being the only watcher left, he’d received access to all of their bank accounts, so money was not an issue. He’d not only rebuilt the council headquarters, but had built a “school” of sorts for slayers and up and coming witches. Lots of girls attended every summer, and those who were out of high school stayed year round. All new slayers were tracked down and encouraged to attend. New watchers were hired to teach slayers about their history and power. Buffy herself was in charge of training. She used the large training room that made hers at the Magic Box look like a closet, and sometimes took the girls on “field trips” so they could get the feel of fighting real vamps. Others were hired to help her, but Giles required paperwork that apparently only she could do. Thus, she was still at the school when she should be home in bed with her fiancé.

After his battle with the Senior Partners of Wolfram and Hart, Angel had gotten the Shanshu prophecy she’d always hoped that he would. He had been human for going on four years. Not long after he’d undergone his change, he had come straight to England to find Buffy. To say she was shocked was an understatement, but she’d eventually gotten over it and found herself back in his arms again. It was like a dream come true. It was everything she’d ever wanted and for once it seemed like things were going to work out for her. They’d gotten engaged about a year ago and the wedding was now only two weeks away. Along with work, she’d also been busy planning the day she never thought she would get to have. Dawn was helping out, demanding they have all of the traditional things at their wedding. Buffy just stepped aside and let her have her fun. The day itself wasn’t that important to her, it was the marriage she was looking forward to. Slayers never really got the chance to get married and have a life, but now that there were hundreds of them out there, it seemed that happiness was possible, even for her.

Angel worked for the council as well. Out of all the jobs he could have, he had become somewhat of a history teacher. It was pretty easy for him, though, considering he had been there for a lot of it. He could also give some good insight into the minds of vampires. He occasionally helped Buffy with training, but since becoming human, most of the newbies were stronger than him. It was a price he had been willing to pay to finally be with Buffy. He had come to realize that she didn’t need him to protect her and he was learning to live with being much weaker than her. He’d also built a stronger relationship with Willow, Dawn, and Giles. Xander still had little to no interest in bonding with the ex-vampire, but they did tolerate each other a lot more than they used to.

Xander had become a watcher for the council, along with Dawn. They often worked together and had formed a special bond in the past few years. It was never romantic, but they often depended on each other a lot more than they did others. Xander was dating Nora, one of the newer slayers to the program. Her boldness reminded him of Anya. He still missed the former love of his life, but he tried not to think about that too much. For almost a year after the final battle in Sunnydale, he’d avoided the subject, but finally Dawn had gotten him to talk about it. She’d grown a lot in five years. No longer a teenager, she had become a lot like her sister. She was strong and independent and of course she was stubborn. She was the youngest watcher in the school, but Ravina, her slayer, seemed to respect her. And on top of all of that, she got to wear heels almost everyday.

Willow and Kennedy had broken up not long after they’d moved to England. The slayer had wanted adventure and the year they spent in South America had not been enough for her. She’d moved back to her mansion, leaving Willow to work with the council alone. But the years since had brought her another girlfriend. Her name was Alice. She was another slayer, but a lot more like Tara than Kennedy. She was shy around those she didn’t know, but still loved to go out and have a good time. And the most important thing was that she made the witch happier than she had been in a long time.

The lives of the Scooby gang had all changed, and most all for the better. Their lives were finally taking on a bit of normal; especially Buffy’s. She only slayed when she felt like it and got to spend weekends and most week nights at home. Which is where she wanted to be right now.

“Ms. Summers?”

Buffy looked up at the voice coming from the door. “Hey Mandy. Come on in.”

The young girl entered the room and walked up to the desk. “Mr. Giles just wanted me to ask you how much you had left to do.”

The slayer looked down at her desk. “Too much to think about.”

“Actually, he wanted me to tell you to get your ‘arse’ home.”

Buffy laughed. “Okay, you don’t have to tell me twice.” She closed the folder on her desk and stood up. A wave of tiredness came over her and she ran a hand over her face. She let out a groan.

“What’s wrong?” Mandy asked.

“I’m just so tired. I don’t even know if I can make it home.” Her car was parked downstairs, and she’d finally gotten the hang of driving on the wrong side of the road, but her house was a good twenty minutes from here and she felt like she could pass out at any minute.

“Well, I could send you. I’ve been working on this teleportation spell, and I’m getting really good at it. Yesterday, I popped Erica out of the closet when she locked herself in there.”

“I don’t think so, Mandy.”

Mandy was among the young witches that attended the school. Willow was the head of the department, but a lot of the girls hadn’t done much more than levitate pencils, and Buffy wasn’t crazy about the idea of a beginner witch doing a spell on her.

“Please Buffy. I know I can do it. And you said it yourself, you’re too tired to drive, and it would take too long to walk…”

Something about the look on the girls face made it hard to turn her down. And she was really really tired. And walking home, she could run into vampires or any number of demons she would have to fight.

“And you did the spell already…on someone else?”

“Yeah, and it went great.”

Buffy sighed. “Okay fine. But if I lose any body parts, you are so expelled.

The girl made a squealing sound and Buffy cringed.

“You won’t regret this.”

“I hope not,” the slayer muttered to herself.

“Okay, all you have to do is stand there. You may want to get away from any furniture… just in case.”

Buffy raised her eyebrows and started to tell the girl never mind.

“It’ll be fine…trust me.”

Though she still wasn’t totally convinced, she didn’t feel like arguing. “Let’s get this over with, then.” She moved to the center of the room and crossed her arms. “Now what’s this spell you’re going to do?”

“All I have to do is repeat the spell and then say where I'm sending you. I do have to be specific though, so where do you wanna go?”

“How about into my bed?”

“Snuggling up with your honey?” Mandy asked with a smile.

“Yeah sure.”

The girl nodded. “Alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Buffy nodded and Mandy proceeded to speak in Latin, a language Buffy had yet to learn.

“Elsirius, heed my call, send Buffy Summers into the arms of the man who loves her most in this world.”

Smoke poured into the room and a bright light flashed. When the smoke cleared, Buffy was gone. Mandy smiled and looked around the office. Her spell had worked. She headed for the door, turning off the office lights on her way out.
-----------------------------

Buffy felt herself drifting slowly back into consciousness. The first thing her brain registered was the feeling on a hand on her bare back and a chest under her head. Without opening her eyes, she knew it was daylight. But it was also Saturday and that meant she didn’t have to get up yet since it seemed Angel wasn’t awake yet either. She snuggled into him and took a deep breath.

And suddenly she felt it. A familiar feeling; a familiar smell. But not Angel. She placed her hand on the bare chest and pushed herself up. When she saw his face, her eyes widened and she sat frozen in place.

‘What the hell is going on?’ she thought to herself.

His eyes opened suddenly, and he looked up at her with confusion all over his face.

“Buffy?”

“Spike…”
------------------

“What are you doing here?” she asked him, still too shocked to move.

“I live here,” he replied, equally as shocked.

It wasn’t everyday you woke up with your ex girlfriend, or whatever she’d been to him, in your arms. Maybe Katie was right. Maybe he did drink too much.

“What…?”

Buffy took a look around the room and realized she wasn’t at her home. Instead she was in a room that she had never seen before. Her eyes returned to his and he shared her look of confusion.

“How?”

“Took the words right out of my mouth, pet.”

What had happened? Buffy wracked her brain for memories of last night. She was working late. Then Mandy had come to her office to tell her to go home and then…Her mouth dropped open. The spell. Mandy had done a spell to send her home. But she wasn’t home, now was she?

The spell had been in Latin. But not the whole spell. Not the last part. What were the words she used? She felt slightly sick at her stomach. Into the arms of the man who loved her most.

“Are you alright?” Spike asked.

Her face had gone pale all of the sudden and her eyes wide. “I'm not sure.”

She looked down and realized her hand was still on his chest. She quickly pulled it away and scooted back on the bed. She looked down at herself. She was still in her clothes from the night before. He, however, was shirtless and her eyes wandered down to the edge of the sheet and she wondered if he was naked. She turned her head away as bad thoughts entered her mind. Spike sat up in the bed and ran a hand through his hair.

Why was the slayer here? She didn’t seem to know any more than he did. He didn’t remember seeing her last night, so how had she ended up in his bed?

“Mandy.”

“Pardon?”

She looked back at him. “Mandy. She’s this witch…in training. She did a spell last night. A transportation spell.”

“Okay?” he said, still not understanding what she was trying to say.

“She did a spell. To send me…” she stopped. She couldn’t tell him the truth when she didn’t even want to admit it to herself. “Into the arms of…my…..ex-vampire lover.”

He raised an eyebrow at that.

“I guess she didn’t know I had more than one. And since you were more of a…lover…I guess it sent me here.”

He nodded slightly. “And why did she do this spell?”

“I was working late and I was too tired to drive home so…she offered to do the spell and I said okay, thinking I would be in bed sooner.”

“Well, you were. Just not the one you were expecting.”

“Right.” Definitely not what she was expecting.

They both sat there awkwardly for another minute or so, not knowing what to say.

“So…you want some breakfast?”
---------------------------

Rupert Giles was a lot of things, but extremely patient was not one of them. It was almost noon and Janie, one of his newer watchers, hadn’t gotten him the finance report he needed. Opening the new watcher’s council had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he was starting to regret it. It had taken a lot more time and effort than he’d originally anticipated, and it seemed he could never get any of his employees to get anything done on time. Willow was doing a pretty good job teaching her students, but some of the young witches still managed to blow up half of his buildings. And Buffy…he worried about her. She was running her class smoothly, but she just never seemed to be entirely focused. He hadn’t thought it was a good idea for her to work there to begin with, but the slayer had insisted that it was what she wanted to do.

He still couldn’t quite believe that she was getting married. She was like a daughter to him and it seemed like only yesterday that she was a teenager who was simply trying to graduate high school and stay alive. She’d asked him to give her away, and when she had, they had shared a laugh, both secretly knowing that was not the only time she had ever asked him that. Strangely, it had less effect this time. And though she seemed happy with her new life, there were times when Giles believed that the girl missed her old life, Sunnydale, and everything they had left behind.

But he never said anything, of course. Instead, he tried to focus on work, which was not a hard job. There was always something going on that needed to be tended to. He stared at the computer screen that now seemed to be frozen still. He still hated the bloody things, and rarely found them useful. Hopefully, Janie would know how to fix it. A knock on the door pulled his attention away from the computer.

“Angel, I wasn’t expecting you today,” Giles said when he saw him standing in the doorway.

“Is Buffy here?” he asked, coming to stand by Giles’ desk.

“She isn’t with you?”

“No, I haven’t seen her since yesterday morning.”

Buffy had been headed off to work when he’d seen her last, promising to return home for dinner. She’d called him, however, around seven and said she had some paperwork to finish and would be home late. So he’d waited for her, but eventually fallen asleep. When he’d woken up this morning, she was still not home. He tried her phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Angel knew he really had no reason to be worried, she could handle herself, but she always answered her phone when he called, or at least called him back.

“That’s unusual. Have you checked her office?”

“I checked her office, Willow’s office, and the training room. She wasn’t there.”

Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyelids. “Did you try calling her?”

“Yeah, she didn’t answer. I’ve left two messages already.”

A small knock was heard from the door.

“Mr. Giles? I have those reports you wanted.” Janie walked into the room and over to the desk, laying the papers down.

Giles replaced the glasses onto his face. “Thank you, Janie.”

The young girl smiled and turned to leave.

“Janie,” Angel called after her.

“Yeah?”

“Have you seen Buffy?”

“No sir, not since last night.”

“Alright thanks.”

She nodded and walked out of the room.

Angel turned back to Giles. “Well, if you here from her, tell her to call me.”

“I will.”

He turned and walked out, closing the door behind him. Giles sighed. At one time he might have had an idea of where his slayer could be, but now he wasn’t sure. But she would go home eventually. He turned his attention back to his computer and realized that it was still frozen. And Janie was gone.

“Bloody hell.”

This was going to be a long day.
----------------------

“I didn’t know you cooked.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Spike said over his shoulder.

“So it seems.”

Buffy was seated at Spike’s small kitchen table, watching him cook bacon. It was more than a little strange, watching a vampire cook breakfast.

“So, what have you been up to?” she asked as casually as she could. What were they supposed to talk about? They hadn’t seen each other and years and suddenly they wake up together one morning.

“Not much. I got a job.”

Spike got a job? Vampires didn’t have jobs. “Oooh. Where at?”

“The hospital. I'm a nurse.”

Buffy’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I'm joking, pet. I make deliveries. Overnight deliveries.”

“Deliveries to where?” she asked, suspiciously.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yes, in fact, I would.”

He laughed. “I deliver packages to shady parts of town no one else wants to go to.”

“So, you’re like a UPS guy?”

He gave her an evil look. “I don’t wear brown.”

She smiled and he turned back around.

“How do you like your eggs?”

“Scrambled.”

Buffy looked down at the coffee mug in her hands. She held her left hand out slightly, looking at the ring on her finger. The ring that meant she was to be married in two weeks.

“So you and Angel, eh, pet?”

Her gaze shifted to him. “How did you…?”

“Still a vampire, luv.”

Oh yeah. He was still a vampire, and that meant he could still smell other people on her. Still gross.

“Right. And yeah. We’re together. Getting married.” The words sounded oddly wrong coming out of her mouth. Maybe it was because she was talking to Spike. She never felt right talking about Angel in front of him.

So they were getting married. Of course they were living happily ever after, him being human and all. Spike was still slightly bitter about Angel getting the prophecy, even after he signed it away to the Senior Partners. Why he deserved it was beyond Spike. He hadn’t seen either one of them in a while, but knowing they were betrothed still bothered him. But he couldn’t let her know that.

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“Nothin’, I just wasn’t sure it would ever work out,” he said, without ever turning away from the food on the stove.

“And why is that?” she wanted to know.

“Because you’re too much alike. You both have this thing about saving the world and helping the helpless. You have to do the right thing all the time. I thought you were over that.”

“You can’t get over being a slayer.”

“No, but you can get over thinking that every bad thing that happens is somehow your responsibility.” He was facing her now. “You spend all this time helping people, but for what? What has this world ever done for you?”

‘Given me a fiancé and a life that makes me happy,’ she wanted to say, but couldn’t. Maybe it was because she knew it would still hurt him, or maybe it was something else. Something that had to do with the spell that had sent her here. But she couldn’t think about that.

“Don’t get me wrong, I help out people from time to time, but I don’t revolve my life around that. I live the way I want. Do what I want, when I want. When was the last time you did something…exciting or dangerous?”

“I don’t have time for exciting.”

“Maybe you should make time, Slayer. You only live once. Well, unless you’re me.”

“Maybe I like my life just the way it is.”

“I doubt that. No offense, luv, but you don’t seem like the suburban white picket fence type.” He put the bacon, eggs and toast on the plates he’d set out and brought them over to the table.

“I can be white picket fence girl.”

“Can you?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” she replied defensively, picking up a piece of toast and biting off a corner.

“Alight then.”

How dare he say she wasn’t meant for a normal life, with a yard and kids and a dog. Well, he hadn’t said those words exactly, but it’s what he’d meant. She could be normal. Even after all this time he was still the same. Always making her think about things that she really didn’t want to think about, and making her doubt her choices. But starting a life with Angel was a good choice. It was what she wanted more than anything…wasn’t it? She internally scolded herself for letting Spike’s doubt about their relationship get to her. What did it matter if he thought they weren’t right for each other? Of course he would say that.

Her mind returned to the spell, and those dreadful words Mandy had spoken. Send her into the arms of the man who loves her most in this world. She picked up her coffee to swallow down the knot forming in her throat. The spell hadn’t worked right. Of course it hadn’t. It couldn’t have.

“So what are we gonna do about this?” Spike asked, pulling her out of her daze.

“About what?”

“About you…here.”

Buffy shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I need to call home and let everyone know I'm okay, but…”

“You don’t want them to know you’re with me.”

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

“Peaches wouldn’t like it.”

She had to agree with that. He most certainly wouldn’t like it. Especially when he found out about the spell. She would have to make sure that didn’t happen.

“Can I use your phone?” she asked.

“No.”

“Oh…”

“I mean, no as in, I don’t have one. Well, I had one, but it got…broken.”

She gave him a curious look.

“Long story. But there’s a payphone at the diner down the street.”

She nodded. “I may have to go down there. I'm gonna have to get someone to send me money or something to get back home.”

“You could always have Macy do another spell.”

“Mandy. And no thanks. I’ve had enough spells for a lifetime.” She took a bite of her eggs. They were surprisingly good.

Spike smiled slightly. “I have money. I can spot you some to get a plane ticket if you want.”

“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You don’t have to ask. I'm offerin’.”

She really didn’t feel right about borrowing money from him, but he had offered, and she did really need to get home. Plus, it wasn’t like he’d stolen it or anything. He had earned it, at his…job.

“And you really don’t mind? I’ll pay you back, when I get back to my money.”

“You still worry too much.”

“And you still eat people food, which is really good by the way.”

“You doubted my cooking, didn’t you?”

“No…”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Okay yes. But I’ve never seen you cook anything. And don’t you need so much blood a day or something?”

“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”

“And yet you eat bacon.”

He laughed. “True, but only because I like it. And this,” he said pointing at his coffee cup, “is not coffee.”

Buffy scrunched up her nose. She had forgotten about the vampire’s love of drinking blood out of coffee mugs.

They talked while they finished their breakfast. Spike told Buffy more about how he’d ended up in Atlanta, Georgia, and she told him about her life at the council. She realized as she talked, that there was somewhat of a routine to her life. She got up, went to work, came home, and went to bed. There was of course a little excitement thrown in some days, but, as Spike put it, her life was boring. She hadn’t had to avert any apocalypses in years, and even on the weekends, she just stayed home. They didn’t talk much about Angel, and every time she mentioned him, Spike would make a face showing he had no interest in how the ex-vampire was doing.

After they finished, they headed to the living room.

“I'm gonna go take a shower,” Spike told her. “I’ll be out soon and then we can go down to the airport if you want.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

It was odd how they seemed to be acting like they’d seen each other every day for five years. Their conversation still came easy and the initial shock had turned into a sense of familiarity and comfort.

Buffy took a seat on the couch. She considered walking down to the pay phone, but decided it may just be better to call from the airport when she was on the way home. They would be worried, but she would be at the airport in an hour or so.

Spike had been gone about fifteen minutes when she heard someone at the door. She turned and looked at it. The knob was rattling around as if someone were trying to get in. She stood up from the couch and started towards it. She readied herself for whatever might walk through the door. It was nearing noon, but one could never be too careful. The door finally swung open and Buffy found herself face to face with a woman; a tall, brunette woman. She was carrying a large box that prevented Buffy from seeing her face.

“A little help here,” she said in a strained voice.

Buffy walked over and took the box from her hands and sat it easily on the kitchen counter.

“Thanks bab…you’re not Spike,” the woman said, giving Buffy a strange look.

“No, I'm not.”

The woman looked around. “Am I in the right apartment?”

Before Buffy could answer, the bedroom door opened and a shirtless, and still slightly wet, Spike came out. The woman looked at him and then let out a sigh of something resembling relief.

“Good, I thought I went into the wrong apartment again,” she said, walking over and placing a kiss on his lips.

Buffy felt a twinge of…something…at the display but pushed it down.

“I see you’ve met Buffy,” he said to her.

“Actually no, we haven’t officially introduced ourselves. But she did help me with the TV. She’s pretty strong. I had to get the doorman to carry it to the elevator for me. I like to have never got it down the hall.”

He smiled at her and then looked at Buffy. “Well then, Katie, this is Buffy, Buffy, this is Katie, my girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you, Buffy,” Katie said, holding out her hand.

Buffy looked at the outstretched hand a moment before taking it. “You too,” she said.

Katie smiled. “How do you two know each other?” she asked.

“We used to work together,” Spike told her. “Back in California.”

“Oh,” she said, nodding her head. It was clear that she was slightly bothered by another woman being in her boyfriend’s apartment, and said boyfriend having appeared to just have gotten out of the shower. But…Buffy…didn’t appear to be damp at all, and she had told herself long ago that she wouldn’t be the jealous girlfriend. If Spike wanted to have, pretty, blonde, female friends, then so be it.

Something about the way he had made it sound so…casual…’we used to work together’…annoyed the slayer slightly. They had done more than just work together. Although, that had been almost exactly what she herself had told Wood when he’d asked the same question years earlier.

“She’s just…visiting. Right Buffy?”

“Right,” she agreed, wondering if the girl knew anything about slayers and vampires. Had Spike even told her he was a vampire? Surely she would have been able to figure it out.

“That’s nice,” Katie said.

The three of them stood there, all trying to figure out what the others were thinking. Finally, after a few minutes, Spike spoke up.

“So, you got the telly?”

“I did.” Katie walked over and put a hand on the box. “And you’ll be happy to know that it was on sale.”

Spike walked over and looked at it. “And it’s high def?”

“Of course.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, placing a kiss on her neck.

“You know it.”

The uncomfortable feeling returned and Buffy looked all around the apartment, everywhere but at them. There was no reason why she should be feeling like this. What did it matter if Spike had a girlfriend? She was getting married, for God’s sake.

“Now why don’t you finish getting dressed and we can put it in.”

“I can’t,” Spike said, and her face fell.

“Why not?”

“I have to help Buffy. She…” he searched his mind for a plausible explanation. “got mugged this morning.”

Buffy almost laughed at that.

“Oh my God, are you okay?’ Katie asked.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, though she still wasn’t sure that she would be.

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah, but uhh…anyway, they stole her money and now she doesn’t have enough for a plane ticket home so I was gonna take her down to the airport and buy her one.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“I'm a nice guy.”

Katie smiled. She did that a lot, Buffy noticed.

“Alright then. I guess I could go do some more shopping while you’re doing that. I think my mom wanted to go to Dillards.”

“Cause the woman needs more stuff.”

She slapped him playfully on the arm. “I'm gonna tell her you said that.”

Buffy gave Katie the once over. She was pretty, no doubt about that. And her slight southern accent was nothing shy of charming.

“Well, I hope you make it home safe, Buffy.”

“Thanks, me too.”

“I’ll see you tonight, baby.” Katie gave Spike a final kiss before leaving.

“She’s nice,” Buffy commented.

“I think so,” Spike said, heading back to his bedroom.

“Does she know?”

“Know what? That she’s a necrophiliac? Yeah.”

Buffy laughed lightly. Who wasn’t?
--------------------

“You still haven’t heard from her?’ Dawn asked.

“No,” Angel said, sitting back down on the couch.

“That’s not like her. Something has to be wrong.”

“Let’s not assume the worst. She can take care of herself.”

Though it seemed as if he were trying to convince Dawn not to worry, he was really trying to convince himself. He worried a lot more now than he used to, and he often wondered if it had something to do with being human.

Dawn had shown up at the council twenty minutes before to meet Xander. Angel had called earlier to see if she knew where her sister was, but she hadn’t even spoken to her since Tuesday. She had been extremely busy with an assortment of things. At first she hadn’t been worried, but no one had heard from the slayer since the night before.

The door to the room opened and they both stared at the young girl who walked in.

“Hey, Janie said you wanted to see me.”

“Yeah. Giles told me you talked to Buffy last night.”

“I did,” Mandy replied.

“Did she say if she was going anywhere before she came home? Was she going to patrol?”

Mandy gave him a strange look. “No, she was tired. She just wanted to go straight home. Why?”

“She never came home last night.”

Mandy’s eyes widened. “What do you mean she never came home? She wasn’t there when you woke up?”

Angel shook his head no.

“Oh shit.”

So the spell hadn’t worked. Buffy had not gone home. But she had gone somewhere. Mandy looked guiltily at the pair in front of her. How was she going to explain this to Mr. Giles?
---------------------

Giles, Dawn, and Angel just stared at her confused.

“What? Do you know where she is?” Dawn asked.

“Not exactly.”

“What does that mean?”

“I did a spell,” she said.

“What kind of spell?” Giles asked, clearly not liking where this was going.

“To send her home. Or…I thought I was sending her home.”

“What were the exact words that you used?”

“Umm…I think I said something like, ‘send her to the man who loves her most.’ Which I thought was you,” she told Angel.

“It is,” he said defensively.

“Then where is she?”

Giles sighed. This was exactly why he didn’t like the witches in training doing spells on their own. They always ended in disaster.

“How do we undo it?” Angel asked.

“It’s not that simple. You can’t just hit the reverse button.”

“Well, there has to be a way.”

“We may try not using magic this time,” Giles suggested.

“But even if we did, we’d have to know where she was,” Mandy said.

“Where do we start looking?” Dawn asked. “I mean, we have no idea where she could be.”

“I don’t know. Who else really loves her? We could check there,” Mandy suggested.

“No, she won’t be with anyone,” Angel said.

“Why not?”

“Because obviously something went wrong with the spell.”

“What makes you say that?” she answered, slightly offended.

“If it had worked properly, she would be with me.”

He seemed defiant in his response and Mandy put her hands on her hips. She was about to say something when Dawn interrupted.

“It doesn’t matter if it went wrong or not. We have to find her. Look, we’ll call Willow; have her do a locater spell for us. It’ll be the easiest way.”

“She’s right,” Giles said. “We’ll have Willow do the spell and go from there.”
----------------------

“Isn’t there anything you can do?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Buffy sighed in defeat. It appeared she was not getting on a plane today. Apparently the airport couldn’t overlook the fact she didn’t happen to have her passport with her. And how was she supposed to explain how she got here without it?

“Pet?”

Buffy turned around at the sound of his Spike’s voice.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t get a ticket without a passport, which I don’t have. At least not here.”

“Oh. I didn’t think about that. I never had to have one when I…traveled.”

She thought about asking why not, but decided she might not want to know the answer.

“I guess I could get them to mail it to me,” Buffy continued.

“That may take a while.”

“What other choice do I have?”

“We could make them let you on the plane,” he suggested.

“How about something that doesn’t involve violence?”

He looked a little disappointed. “Maybe you can get Mindy to send it to you.”

“Mandy. And I don’t think I want my passport flying through time and space.”

He shrugged. “Well, if you want them to mail it, you’re welcome to stay with me while you’re waiting. I do have a guest room so no repeat of this morning.”

“Right.”

She turned her head so he couldn’t see the slight blush she knew was rising in her cheeks. Waking up with him had been strangely comfortable and she definitely did not need to be thinking things like that. Not when she could hear wedding bells in the near future.

“I guess maybe I should call now.”

“There’s a pay phone over there,” Spike said, pointing across the room.

“Alright.”

She started over and then stopped when she realized she had no change. She turned to ask for some and Spike was already holding out the correct amount.

“Thank you.”

She walked across the room to where the payphones were located. She picked up the phone, put in her money, and dialed. It started to ring and she rubbed her temple, still not knowing exactly what she was going to say.
--------------------

Dawn hung up her cell phone. “Willow’s on her way.”

“Good.”

Angel had seated himself in one of the chairs and was doing something similar to brooding. There was no way Buffy was with anyone else. No one loved her more than he did. The girl had just screwed up the spell. Not unusual for a wannabe witch. So that was not at all what he was worried about. What he was worried about was that something else had happened to the slayer. What if she had been vanished to some other dimension or something?

Mandy was still standing by the door. She had been forbidden to leave until Willow arrived. She resented the fact that all of them seemed to think she had somehow screwed up the spell. Just because she hadn’t received her full witch’s license yet, didn’t mean she was good at casting spells. She’d never really liked Angel and this was not helping his case. He was making everyone think this was her fault instead of accepting that maybe someone out there did love Buffy more than him. It wouldn’t surprise her. She had seen them together and whereas they mostly looked happy, sometimes Buffy looked bored and Mandy figured she may be tired of him. But no way she was telling him that.

“What I don’t understand is why she wanted you to do the spell in the first place. That is not like her.”

“I told you she was tired,” Mandy said to him.

“She’s never been that tired.”

“Are you suggesting that I sent her without her permission?” How dare he? She would never do that.

“She wouldn’t do that,” Dawn said in her defense.

The phone on Giles’ desk started ringing. He picked it up.

“Hello.”

As the three of them continued to talk, Giles held up his hand to silence them.

“Buffy? Where are you?”

They all silenced immediately and stared at the phone.

“What? Why……Oh.”

Angel didn’t like the look on his face as he said ‘oh.’ What did that mean?

“Yes. Would you like to speak with him? .......Okay….We’ll have it sent. Alright…Hold on.” He reached for a pen and piece of paper. “What airport?” He wrote down what the slayer said. “Yes…I will.”

He hung up the phone, still not quite believing what he’d just heard. Buffy was okay, she wasn’t hurt. And she was at the airport, unable to get back to England. She needed them to send her passport and in the meantime she would be alright.

“So, where is she?” Mandy asked when he didn’t offer the information.

Giles looked from one of them to the others, knowing at least one person would not be happy to hear this news.

“She’s in Atlanta, GA in the United States.”

“What’s she doing there?” Dawn asked.

“She’s…with Spike.”
-----------------------

Buffy hung up the phone and sighed. She had told Giles just enough. She was in Atlanta…with Spike, and she needed her passport. She really hadn’t wanted them to know where she was but lying seemed useless. Eventually they would find out the truth. Maybe this way they would have time to deal with it before she got back.

“So what’s the word?” Spike asked.

She turned around and looked at him. “They’re gonna have it sent here. It may take a few days.”

“Well, like I said, you’re welcome to stay with me.”

“I may have to take you up on that. But are you sure Katie won’t mind? I saw the way she looked at me this morning. I’m not sure she’ll want some strange woman staying with her boyfriend.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“I just don’t want her to think I’m trying to move in on her territory.”

Spike laughed. “Her territory?”

“You know what I mean.”

“She’s not really the jealous type. It’s fine…really.”

“If you say so.”

But she still wasn’t convinced. What kind of girlfriend was okay with another woman staying overnight with her boyfriend? And she wasn’t sure if she was comfortable staying with him. He had been nothing but nice, but it still gave her an uneasy feeling in her gut that she couldn’t quite explain.

“Trust me.”

‘I do,’ she almost said, but decided against it.

“Okay.”
-----------------------

“She’s what?” Angel asked, knowing he must have heard wrong.

“Who’s Spike?” Mandy asked.

“Angel’s worst nightmare,” Dawn told her.

“He is not my worst nightmare. He’s not anything to be but an annoyance.”

Dawn ignored him. “And also Buffy’s ex.”

Mandy’s mouth formed and ‘o’.

“Which has nothing to do with anything,” Angel stated.

“Were they in love?”

“No.”

Dawn nodded yes despite Angel’s answer.

“Well, then that makes sense, right? The spell worked.”

“No it did not,” Angel protested.

“Is she coming back?” Dawn asked.

“Of course she’s coming back.”

Dawn looked at Angel. “I mean today, moron.”

“I’m afraid not,” Giles told them. “She doesn’t have her passport, so she can’t fly back.”

“I can teleport her back,” Mandy offered.

“No!” the three others told her at once.

“Fine,” she said, crossing her arms.

“We could mail her passport,” Dawn suggested.

“Yes, I think that would be best. I have the name of the airport. If we just send it there she can pick it up,” Giles said.

“No. That won’t be necessary,” Angel said. “I’m gonna go get her.”

He was going to Atlanta, GA. And when he got there, Spike would know whose girl she was. He would make sure of it.
--------------------

A/N- I’m not really sure how the whole passport thing works since I’ve never traveled overseas, but in my world she has to have the actual thing and it can be mailed to an airport. =)

“Angel. Wait. You can’t go.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because we need you here. We still have classes to teach.”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday. If I leave now, I can go, get Buffy, and be back before classes start Monday.”

Not that he would mind not getting back on time. The days of teaching the young girls about the history of vampires, demons, and, of course, slayers were boring and endless it seemed at times. Often, he wished he could leave the council to pursue work in another area. The only job worse than teaching was working at a law firm. He had learned that first hand. Lawyers could not be trusted, even those who weren’t literally evil. Maybe he could be a doctor. He liked to watch medical shows on TV and did have a lot of experience with mending wounds…and creating them, but no one had to know that. Teaching was something that people who liked to read and write a lot did. People like Spike.

Spike.

“It’s a ten hour flight. You don’t know when the next available flight is and even if you could leave within the hour, you wouldn’t get there until midnight.”

“And who’s to say there will even be a flight to London tomorrow?” Mandy added.

Angel glared at both of them. “So I’m just supposed to sit here while she’s with…him?”

The thought of Buffy being anywhere near Spike made his blood boil. He and the vampire had become…tolerable…of each other in the year before the battle with the Senior Partners, but after it was all said and done they were back at each other’s throats for weeks. The last weeks they had spent anywhere near each other in the last four years. Angel knew Spike had gone back to hating his guts because he hadn’t been the one to get the Shanshu. He had been wrong. They had all been wrong. Spike had neither wanted nor deserved it more than he did. Just because Spike had gotten a soul by himself and beat him to that cup thing meant nothing. And he had the beating heart to prove it. The vamp had nothing on him. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. Buffy had only been sent to him by mistake. Something had gone horribly wrong with the spell. Mandy must have used some other words that she just wasn’t telling him about, or maybe she was confused. Either way, for some reason, he wanted to wring blondie’s neck.

“Buffy will be fine,” Giles told him. “Spike is going to loan her money until she is able to get back.”

“But she wants to come home now. And who knows how long it will take for her passport to get over there. If I go and get her, I can be back in two days.”

Dawn crossed her arms. He was being really stubborn about this and she knew it wasn’t because he was concerned for Buffy getting home as soon as possible. All he really wanted was for Buffy to get away from Spike as soon as possible. Dawn had to admit that the whole thing was slightly humorous. All these years Buffy had spent with Angel, the supposed man of her dreams, and a simple spell to send her into the arms of the man who loved her had sent her to Spike. She knew Spike and her sister had had something between them. She’d known in before they did. Even back when they both hated each other, she would write in her journals about how she thought they secretly had a thing for each other, something that she had never told Buffy. It became even more obvious that last year when they had all lived in their house together. Everyone could see it; even Giles. Hence the him trying to have Spike killed thing. For her own good of course. Dawn had never understood why everyone always thought that they needed to do things for Buffy’s own good. She knew her sister well enough to know that she knew what was good for herself.

The fact that Buffy was now with Spike also worried Dawn a bit because she knew how her sister had felt about the vampire when he’d “died” and how she felt when she found out he was back. She’d wanted to rush out to LA and give him a piece of her mind, but had been strongly advised against it. ‘If he wants to see you, he’ll come here,’ Willow had told her. In truth, the witch had known there was something bad going down in LA and the coven didn’t want Buffy anywhere near it. They knew with the two vampires involved that she would never be able to make the appropriate decisions on who needed to be sacrificed, if that became necessary. This was something else the slayer had not been informed of. ‘Why complicate things again,’ they had said to her. ‘You know you can never be with either one of them forever, so why tempt yourself.’

So she hadn’t gone and he hadn’t come to find her. Dawn had actually considered calling him herself once or twice just to ask him what his problem was. Didn’t he think they wanted to see him again? Wouldn’t he have known they would be happy? But she hadn’t done that either, and when Angel had shown up on their doorstep, all human and stuff, she figured calling Spike would be pointless. It was clear that Buffy had gotten what she wanted and Dawn was all ready to back her in whatever she chose to do; which had been to get engaged. So she’d been planning the wedding, though in all honesty, she would rather have been making plans with a different, more British-type man. She had always liked Spike the most of any of Buffy’s guy friends and companions, other than Xander, whom she had had a brief crush on for…okay well years. But if this was what Buffy wanted, then she would do her best to get make her wedding the perfect day. The only problem was that sometimes she wondered if this was truly what the slayer wanted. She seemed to be excited, but it was almost put on; like she felt like she had an obligation to be happy.

And not to mention that she’d spent months after Sunnydale moping around. Of course she claimed that she wasn’t moping, but everyone knew she was. She had really expected Spike, of all people, to make it through the battle. And Dawn suspected she had looked more into her future with the vampire than she’d let on. She’d wanted to be with him, but had not gotten the chance. And she hadn’t seen him since that day in the hellmouth, since she’d told him she loved him. Dawn had never asked her if her words were true, but in all honesty she didn’t have to. She knew they were. Which was why she was a little anxious now. She wished she could talk to her sister and hear the tone in her voice. Did she really want to come home, or did she secretly want to stay longer. And if she did want the latter, what was Dawn supposed to do? Support her and make excuses to hold off on sending the passport, or demand she come home and get ready for her wedding? Was it the maid of honor’s job to ensure the wedding went without a hitch, or help the bride make a run for it if she wanted to?

She decided the best course of action was to talk to Buffy. Somehow, someway, she would talk to her sister. But right now, the right thing seemed to be this: keep Angel from leaving.

“What exactly do you think she’s gonna do?” Dawn asked him. “I mean, you’re supposed to marry her in a week. You really think she’s gonna get swept off her feet in a few days?”

“And, if you’re right, and you are the one, then you have nothing to worry about,” Mandy said.

Angel sighed. Maybe they were right. He had responsibilities here and Buffy had said that she was okay. He had nothing to worry about. She would never consider having anything with the vampire again.

Would she?
-------------------------

“This will be your room,” Spike said, waving his hand around.

“It’s cozy,” Buffy said, glancing around the small room.

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Right.”

If by cozy she meant barely big enough for a bed, nightstand, and small dresser, then yeah, it was cozy.

“You can have the master bedroom if you want,” he offered.

“No, this is fine. I just appreciate you letting me stay here. The lady at the airlines said it would take up to a week for my passport to get here. Maybe longer.”

“Well, like I said, you can stay as long as you need to.”

Something about the way he said the words made her feel a little uneasy. She felt something that resembled guilt. She kept telling herself that there was no reason to feel guilty about this. It was innocent. A friend helping another friend. But were they even friends anymore? They hadn’t seen each other in so long, and yet, in some ways, it felt like it had been only yesterday they’d been living under the same roof in Sunnydale, preparing for their biggest fight yet. Thinking about Sunnydale also brought on thoughts about how close they had gotten in those last few days. She’d depended on him and needed him, and for once in life, she hadn’t been afraid to admit it. And once she’d given in, let him hold her and really love her, it had been so easy, almost like it was always supposed to be that way. Being around him brought back old memories of a longing for something that they both had always wanted.

And those thoughts were exactly what was giving her that guilty feeling now. But it wasn’t like he was trying to put a move on her. She was sleeping in the guest room for goodness sakes. But there was still something, some other feeling, that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Thanks.”

Spike studied her expression, trying to decipher what was going on in that head of hers. It had been a long time, too long, since he’d seen her. She looked the same, more or less. The years had treated her well. And it still amazed him that even after all this time, she still gave him that certain feeling that only she, it seemed, could. Truth be told, he was glad they wouldn’t let her board the plane without a passport. Though he was sure to regret all of this later, he wanted to spend time with her. He’d missed her more than he liked to admit to himself, and only wondered if she had truly missed him, too.

He knew Katie wouldn’t like the idea of a woman staying at his apartment, especially one he used to…well shag. He would have to think of a way to convince her not to overreact, seeing as he’d told Buffy she had nothing to worry about. And it wasn’t that he’d completely lied. Katie wasn’t overly jealous or anything, but she would be far from cool with the idea. One of the things that had attracted him to her in the first place was the way she carried herself. She seemed to have a confidence that so many women lacked these days. When they had first met, she’d acted like she could care less if he ever called her, which was a reason that he had. He had been in Georgia for only a few months when he’d met her at a local diner. Since L.A., Spike had spent a majority of his time picking up women in clubs and bars, never calling anyone for a second date. One evening, after patrolling, he still couldn’t get out of the habit of that, he’d wandered into a diner across town. Katie had been his waitress. She’d seemed very concerned about a cut on his hand, compliments of a very big and ugly demon. She’d insisted on getting the first aid kit and patching him up. He found himself fascinated by the small town girl, and when she’d given him her number and said “call or not, whatever you want,” he had been compelled to get to know her. And she was great, everything a man could want. Well, almost everything.

He tried to stop himself from thinking about the past, but sometimes it crept into his mind. Katie would do something or say something that reminded him of Buffy. And he would mentally slap himself for thinking about his ex. What it was about the slayer that stuck with him, he had no idea. He’d been with Drusilla for a century and she was hardly ever on his mind. But Buffy, the woman who had rejected him time and time again, was always on it constantly.

He would never tell Katie this. He’d never even told her about Buffy. He’d mentioned his rocky past with women, but never named anyone specifically, and Katie hadn’t asked. Perhaps it was because she was working on dealing with the fact he was undead. It wasn’t until their third date she’d discovered he was a vampire. She had been slightly frightened at first, but by the end of the night she was joking about him not eating her when she wasn’t looking. He was surprised when she’d called the next day.

“So…what now?” Buffy asked.

It was still early and she wondered what they were going to do to occupy their time. Were they supposed to talk some more? They had already told each other what they had been doing. At least for the most part. What else was there to talk about?

Spike shrugged.

“You want to watch a movie?” he found himself asking.

The request sounded strange to both of them, but she nodded her head yes anyway.

“Sure, what have you got?”

“Well…” Spike walked over to his TV and opened the cabinet underneath. It was full of DVDs and a few VHS tapes. “We’ve got Rocky, Apocalypse Now, Crank, the Matrix, A Walk to Remember, Speed…”

“A Walk to Remember?” Buffy asked with an amused smile.

“S’not mine.”

“Sure.”

He gave her a smile over his shoulder. The movie really didn’t actually belong to him, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy it. Though the rough exterior was apparent, he had always been somewhat of a romantic at heart; something even becoming a vampire had not changed about him.

Spike named off a dozen more movies before Buffy announced she wanted to watch Crank.

“I’ve heard of it but I never really knew what it was about.”

He popped the DVD into the player and came to sit beside her on the couch. “Well,” he said, while picking up the remote to press play, “It’s about a guy who has been given some sort of poison and he has to keep his heart rate up or he dies.”

“How does he do that?”

“Lots of ways. Running, fighting, shagging…”

“And he has to do this all the time?”

Spike nodded his head yes.

“That sounds exhausting.”

“Or fun.”

Buffy looked over to find him smirking, a look that gave her another of those unwanted feelings. She quickly looked back at the television.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Start the movie.”

“Sure thing, pet.”
-----------------------

“Well, that was…different.”

Spike chuckled. “I like it.”

“You would.”

“What does that mean?”

She met his eyes, amusement filling her own. “Nothing.”

They held each others gaze for a moment. Spike could hear her heart beat speed up slightly. She was getting nervous and he wondered what she would do. He kept expecting her to look away and change the subject but she didn’t. She didn’t seem to be moving at all. And he didn’t dare move either. They both seemed to realize that if they did something might happen. Something they would later regret.

Buffy opened her mouth to speak when she heard the front door open. Spike looked over her shoulder.

“Hello luv.”

“Hey…” She broke off when she saw the other woman sitting there. “Oh Buffy, you’re still here.”

Spike stood up as Katie came to stand beside him.

“Yeah, I forgot I don’t have a passport,” Buffy said, feeling the need to defend her presence.

“It seems Buffy’s going to be staying with me for a few days,” Spike told his girlfriend.

“Oh.” Katie seemed none to thrilled about the idea and didn’t bother to hide it.

“I can stay somewhere else,” Buffy offered. “I don’t mind.”

“No, you’ll stay here,” Spike said, more to Katie than Buffy. “It’s fine. Right Katie?”

“Right,” she said, putting a smile on her face, though her discomfort was still obvious. “Well, in that case, Buffy, I hope you don’t mind, but we’re having steak. I only got two but you can have Spike’s.”

“Hey.”

“I don’t wanna intrude on your dinner.”

“It’s okay,” Katie said. “Besides, he drinks blood anyway.”

Buffy found it strange that she seemed so okay with her boyfriend being a vampire. She wondered how they had met and what it was that had drawn them together. Not that it was any of her business.

“I’ll just get those started,” Katie continued.

“Let me,” Spike said.

“You’re gonna cook for us even though we’re not letting you have any?” she asked with a hint of a smile.

“I think you will.” Spike gave her a quick kiss before retreating to the kitchen.

Katie stood there a moment before walking over to the couch. She sat down and looked at the other woman. “So Buffy, tell me about yourself.”

Buffy wondered what she should say in response. “Umm…I’m getting married,” she decided on. It was something she would normally tell someone, but for some reason it felt almost like she was reminding herself of that very fact.

“Oh really?” Katie seemed to perk up at this. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?”

“His name is Angel.”

“How did you two meet?” Katie asked.

“Well…”

Spike made a face as Buffy explained how they’d met in Sunnydale and how it hadn’t worked out at the time, but that they’d been together for several years now and blah blah blah. She left out some of the more tragic aspects of it all, but the conversation lasted a good twenty minutes. Katie wanted to know everything there was to know about the wedding, whereas Spike preferred not to know anything.

He tuned them out as he worked on their dinner. Hearing about how excited she was about marrying tall, dark and forehead wasn’t something he really wanted to do. In fact, in bothered him quite a bit. But he would just have to get over that now wouldn’t he? In a few days she would be Mrs. Tall, dark and forehead and they would begin their happily ever after. If Buffy didn’t change her mind. He was still convinced that they would never make it in the long run. Not with the life they were leading now. But you couldn’t tell the slayer that. Oh no. Saying anything bad about Angel would set her off. Bloody bastard.

“And he’s a vampire, too?” Katie asked.

Buffy shook her head. “No, not anymore. There was this prophecy.” She glanced at Spike out of the corner of her eye. “That one vampire with a soul would become human.”

“And it just happened to be the love of your life.”

Buffy saw Spike flinch slightly, though he was refusing to look at her. But Buffy wasn’t the only one who noticed. Katie had seen her boyfriend’s reaction to the comment.

“Yeah,” Buffy replied, though she couldn’t bring a smile to her own face.

Katie sat back on the couch, bringing her legs up and crossing them in front of her. “Guess we’re all pretty lucky.”

Buffy couldn’t find it in herself to respond and Katie looked back to her boyfriend, suspicion rising.

“Anyway…wedding plans aside, what else do you do?”

“I uhhh…” Buffy tried to think of a good way to explain her job.

“I’m sorry. I’m being like really nosey.”

“No, it’s fine. I teach girls…karate and self defense. Stuff like that.”

“That’s great. Remind me not to piss you off.”

Buffy attempted a laugh. She hadn’t prepared herself for all of the questions, and didn’t know how much to actually tell the girl. Katie knew about vampires, yes, but did she know about slayers and watchers? Her guess was probably no and it was probably better that way.

“Foods ready,” Spike called from the kitchen.

Buffy felt an internal sigh of relief. She wasn’t really looking forward to eating dinner with Spike and his girlfriend, but at least he would be there to help carry on conversation that would hopefully not be about her.

Both women stood and headed to the kitchen. Buffy sat down at the table in a chair Spike pulled out for her. He had placed all of the food on the table and walked into the living room to get his mug off of the coffee table. Katie came up behind him and put a hand on his back.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked as quietly as she could.

“Yes luv. I’m helping a friend.”

“And that’s all she is, a friend?”

Spike glanced at the slayer, who was currently sitting awkwardly at the table. Six years has passed. Six years and he still loved her. He still wanted her, and he could not lie to himself. But could he lie to Katie?

“Yes, just a friend.”
--------------------

The ceiling had 173 swirls on it.

After lying in bed for nearly four hours, that was the only conclusion she had come to. It was three o’clock in the morning and she had never been more awake in her life. It wasn’t that the bed wasn’t comfortable. It was. Not as good as her own bed, but better than others she had been in. And it wasn’t that it was too hot, or too cold. It was a good temperature. And she was tired, man was she tired. But she couldn’t sleep. So what was the problem?

Spike. The vampire that had been out of her life for years. The man that was currently lying in the next room with another woman. He was the problem. Well, not him so much as the spell. She still wasn’t all that convinced that there hadn’t been some sort of mistake. The whole idea of him loving her more than the man she was set to marry was insane. Right?

Buffy rolled over for the millionth time and sighed. This was getting ridiculous. She sat up in the bed. Maybe if she got something to drink. She made her way into the living room. It was dark, but her eyes had long adjusted. She started to walk towards the kitchen area when a voice came from behind her.

“Buffy?”

She turned quickly and pulled back her fist instinctively. Before she could hit the target, a hand stopped her fist in mid air.

“Whoa, pet. No need for violence,” Spike said in a loud whisper.

Buffy dropped her hand. “Sorry. Habit,” she whispered back.

Spike let out a chuckle.

“What are you doing up?” she asked, suddenly noticing how close together they were standing. If she reached out, she could touch him with no problem. Luckily, he had a shirt, and strangely, jeans on.

“Creature of the night, luv.”

“Right.” She took a slight step back.

“What about you?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” she offered.

“Home sick?” Spike asked in a playful voice.

“No, it’s not that. I’m just…restless.”

“Would you like some coffee? I know it won’t help you sleep, but…”

“That sounds great.”

They both stood there a moment longer before Spike shook his head and headed to the kitchen. Buffy followed him and took a seat at the kitchen table. She felt a sense of de ja vu at the situation.

She wondered when Spike had learned to do so many things in the kitchen, and then realized that maybe he had always known, learned when he was a child, or a teenager. It was weird to think about him being young. He hadn’t changed at all since she’d known him, and thinking about him being small and innocent was…strange.

“Katie asleep?” Buffy asked, though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

“Yeah. She’s a deep sleeper. I think she could sleep through anything.”

Anything. Buffy found herself having to force un-welcomed thoughts into her head. Why did being around Spike do that to her?

Spike poured two cups of coffee and came to sit beside her at the table.

“Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

Buffy took a sip of her coffee. “It’s good.”

“Course it is. I made it.”

“Quite the little culinary master, aren’t you?”

Spike shrugged.

“They should give you your own show. They could call it Everyday Immortal.”

Spike chuckled. “Yeah or Down Home With the Undead.”

Buffy laughed quietly. The air around them was light and comfortable. It had only been like this with them a few times. Most of them being in that last year in Sunnydale. He could always seem to make her smile.

“Do you wanna patrol?” Spike asked suddenly.

“What?”

“Patrol. You know…” He made punching and jabbing motions in the air.

“I heard you. It was just a strange question.”

“Not so strange. You are still a slayer after all. And how long has it been since you’ve had a good tussle?”

“It has been a while.” Truthfully, she hadn’t been out hunting for baddies in months. She was always busy with work and this recent batch of girls hadn’t made it to the walk the graveyard phase. The only times she’d even been on patrol in the last few years had been for training.

“Then let’s go.”

“But what about Katie?” Buffy asked, casting a glance at his bedroom door.

“She’ll be alright. And she knows I get angsty sometimes.”

“So you leave her alone often then?”

Spike smirked. “I always come back.”

Buffy stared at him for a second, trying to read his expression before sighing. “Okay. Why not?”

“You should probably change first.”

Buffy looked down at her…no Katie’s…pjs. Ironically, they had little pictures of sushi on them. “Yeah.”

She went back to her room to change and then the two of them headed out. It was a warm night out and heat lightening could be seen in the distance. Buffy noticed that Spike wore no jacket over his black t-shirt. Despite the warmth and humidity, she had half expected to see him break out the duster.

“There’s a cemetery a few blocks from here. It’s not quite as large as the one in Sunnyhell, but you can usually find a vampire or two.”

“Here’s for hoping we find more than two. It’s been too long since I’ve killed something.”

“Words which would scare the normal bloke.”

She laughed. “Good thing you’re not normal.”

“It’s overrated anyway.”

She couldn’t help but think about what he’d said. Normal was overrated. Despite her best attempts, she couldn’t help but think that she agreed with him. Not that her life was normal now, but she was slowly moving in that direction. She knew that Angel didn’t want to work for the council forever and after they were married, he had already stated that he wanted to move to a bigger house and start a family. And it wasn’t that she didn’t want to start a family with him, but she was in no hurry. She was only 27. Most women weren’t having kids until their mid thirties. What was the rush? Normal had always seemed like such a far stretch for her that she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to adjust to it. Normal people didn’t go on patrol after all.

Spike wondered if Buffy really wanted to live a “normal” life with kids and backyards and dogs. It didn’t seem like her style, but then again, she always claimed that he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did. And maybe that was true. Especially now. So much time had passed since he’d even seen her, so who was he to think that he still knew what she wanted, even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself.

They walked the next few blocks in silence, both lost in their own thoughts, but keeping their senses on alert for anything that may be lurking in the dark. When they finally reached the cemetery, Buffy found herself actually getting excited. She hadn’t realized just how much she missed slaying. As strange as it sounded, it felt natural to hunt the evil undead.

It didn’t take long for them to find a nest of vampires camping out in one of the mausoleums. It only took them a matter of minutes to take out the whole lot of them. The two of them spent the next few hours perusing the cemetery, finding a few more vamps and one nasty demon. The fight was easy and after they’d taken down ten or so, they decided to head back to his place. Morning would be coming all too soon.

“That felt good,” Buffy said as they were leaving.

“Didn’t it?”

Spike looked at the woman that he still loved. Her face was flushed and she’d gotten her jacket dirty when one of the vamps had thrown her into a headstone, but he didn’t think he’d ever seen her more beautiful. He mentally smacked himself for daring to think that way and looked away from her.

“Yeah, it was exhilarating. I didn’t realize how much I missed doing that. Just a simple patrol…without having to train anybody. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love helping the girls, but…” she broke off.

“It’s nice to not have to worry about someone else.”

“Try someones. And you know I can give speeches with the best of them but even I get tired of repeating myself over and over. It was different when I was training them to fight in an apocalypse. I had to do that. They had to be ready. But now…they just frustrate me so much sometimes.”

“Teenage girls will do that to you. I have a brief memory of living in house with thirty or so of them.”

“Ahh yes, good times.”

They shared a laugh.

“Well, here we are.”

They had managed to make their way back to his apartment.

“I’m glad we did this,” Buffy said, “I needed it.”

“I know,” he said, opening the door.

She looked at him. “Did you?”

He nodded. “I do know you, slayer,” he decided. “It may have been a while, but you haven’t changed that much,” he said in a hushed voice. They were back in the apartment, and he didn’t want to wake Katie.

“Neither have you.”

It was true. Though their lives were somewhat different than the last time they had seen each other, they were still the same people that they had helped each other to transform into. She’d made him want to be a better person, a person at all, and he’d shown her it was okay not to be perfect and that embracing and understanding your dark side was a part of being who you were. They also seemed to always get each other, even when no one else did.

She’d known that he could be a better man.

“You may not see it, but I do. I do. I believe in you.”

And he always seemed to see through her, when the rest of the world could not.

“And I can fool Giles, and I can fool my friends, but I can’t fool myself. Or Spike, for some reason.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing.”

“Maybe.”

Spike shut the door. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself anyway.”

Killing vampires seemed to be something programmed into her, something she would always have a desire to do, no matter how normal she tried to be. There was that word again. Why did it sound so…unappealing?

“I think I’m gonna call it a night. It’s almost sunrise,” Buffy said.

“Wouldn’t want to miss out on your beauty sleep.”

“Are you implying that I need it?” she asked in a mock-angry tone.

He smirked slightly. “You could never sleep again and be beautiful.”

Her playful mood seemed to vanish at his words and a lump formed in her throat.

“I should…go to bed.”

“Me too.”

But they both just stood there.

“Night,” he finally whispered.

“Goodnight,” she whispered back.

The air was thick and they could both feel it. Despite the fact that her wedding was only a few weeks away and despite the fact that his girlfriend was asleep thirty feet away, they found themselves moving closer together. Buffy could feel her heart speed up with anticipation and before she could completely process what was happening, his lips brushed against hers.

She should have pulled back, pushed him away, but for some reason she couldn’t find it in herself to do that. Instead she waited. When Spike felt no sign of protest, he kissed her again, a little harder this time. She slowly started to respond and her hands gripped his upper arms, while his traveled down to rest on the small of her back. He pulled her closer instinctively and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss intensified and all rational thought seemed to leave her brain, what little was left anyway.

Spike froze suddenly and pulled back, leaving the slayer gasping for breath. He met her eyes for a moment and then released his hold on her. Buffy took a step back and tried to get a hold of herself. Her brain was still trying to catch up with her body.

“I’m sorry,” Spike told her.

Buffy knew she should say something, but couldn’t manage to form any words.

“It’s late. We should get some sleep.”

The slayer nodded her head in response, still stunned at what had just happened, and watched as he walked back to his bedroom and shut the door.
---------------------------

Morning came all too soon and Buffy wasn’t even sure that she had really slept at all. After last night’s…moment, it had been impossible to sleep. She still couldn’t believe that she had let it happen. She had kissed Spike. And not just kissed him, all but made out with him. And worse than that…she’d known it was coming and had done nothing to stop it. The question she refused to let into her mind seemed to float around in the air.

Had she not stopped him because he simply caught her off guard and she hadn’t had time to do anything, or because she had, in fact, wanted to kiss him, too?

Dum dum da dum…

In less than 14 days, she would be getting married. People who were getting married in less than 14 days did not make out with their ex-boyfriends. Or rather, they shouldn’t.

Buffy stood up from the bed. She’d opted for sleeping in her clothes, not wanting to wear the pajamas she’d originally had to sleep in. They weren’t hers and neither was the man who was no doubt waiting in the next room.

How was she supposed to go out there and face the two of them? And what the hell was she going to say to Katie? Surely Spike had not told her what had happened, but Buffy already felt the guilt of what she had done.

She looked down at herself. There was no mirror in the room, but she was pretty sure she looked less than fantastic. Luckily, Katie had had extra everything, and had brought Buffy enough toiletries for ten women. The problem was, Spike had only one bathroom, and it was in his bedroom. There was no way she would be able to get there without running into them. She smoothed out her hair and clothes and took a deep breath. She wasn’t a coward. She would face this.

Spike was standing in the kitchen. That appeared to be his favorite place these days. He didn’t turn around when she came into the room, but she was almost certain that he’d heard her.

“Where’s Katie?” Buffy asked when she didn’t see the girl anywhere.

He turned around to face her. “She left early. She had to work this morning.”

“Oh.”

The awkward silence set in as they stood there, both trying to look at anything and everything but each other.

“Do you mind if I take a shower?” she finally asked.

“Go ahead.”

Spike turned back around and stared at the counter, trying to shove down the urge to say something. He needed to talk to the slayer, but he needed more time to think first. Not that he hadn’t been thinking all night, but he’d yet to come up with something to explain his actions. But was he really the only one with explaining to do? He had kissed her but she had kissed him back. What did that mean?

Buffy didn’t wait any longer before heading into his bedroom. She glanced briefly at the bed that she had woken up in not 24 hours ago. How had being around him for a day made her feel so confused? She had been so sure of where her life was heading and how she wanted to spend the rest of her life, but now…in one day Spike had thrown her for a loop and made her question everything. Was she really meant to be normal? Was normal enough for her?

The shower was refreshing, but it didn’t seem to last long enough. She had showered, brushed her teeth, blow dried her hair, put on some clothes Katie had leant her, and even put on a touch of makeup. When she had run out of things to do, and heard her stomach growl, she knew she had no choice but to go back in to the living room. But she had already decided that she would go to the diner. She really needed to call home and make sure her passport was on its way.

Spike was sitting on the couch with the TV on when she came out. He glanced up at her as she walked by him.

“I’m going down to the diner,” Buffy told him.

“Do you want me to…” he started.

“No. I wanna go alone. Besides, it’s daytime. Wouldn’t want you bursting into flames.” She hoped he wouldn’t say anything else, but of course she couldn’t be that lucky.

“Buffy, I think we should talk,” Spike said, standing up from the couch.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” In reality, there was a lot to talk about; she just preferred to ignore it.

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Pretend things didn’t happen and think that will make it go away.” She’d done it to him many a time in Sunnydale, and he’d be damned if he let her do it to him now.

“Can we not do this now?” She didn’t mean for her voice to sound so hostel, but anger was easier.

“What’s your problem, Slayer?”

“My problem is that I just wanna be alone for a while. Think you can handle that?” She spun around and headed for the door.

“Is this because of the kiss?” he called after her. What was the point in beating around the bush anymore? They would have to talk about it eventually.

She looked back at him. “No…yes…I don’t know. I’m just so confused. I mean, first I let an amateur witch do a spell and wake up half way around the world, then when I try to get back home I realize…I don’t have my passport, cause those tend to be forgotten when you’re being teleported. So I’m forced to stay with a man that I haven’t seen in years and his too cheerful girlfriend, who couldn’t be nicer, and then I practically make out with him while she’s sleeping, all while being engaged to be married…” Buffy finally stopped her rant and took a deep breath.

“I told you I was sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t take it back, Spike.”

“What do you want me to say?”

They were both getting angry, their tempers getting the best of them.

“Nothing. I don’t want you to say anything.”

“What the bloody hell is your problem, Slayer?” Spike demanded. “It was a kiss. It didn’t mean anything.”

“It’s not just about the kiss,” she shot back, a little stung by his words.

“Then what is it about?” he demanded.

“I’m just…frustrated.”

“Because someone bollucked up a spell?” he asked.

‘Because maybe she didn’t,’ she thought. When she didn’t answer, he continued.

“You came here. I didn’t bother you. I left you alone, stayed out of your life, and I’m sorry that you were sent here but it is not my fault.”

And he was right. Whether the spell had worked or not, it was not his fault.

“I’m sorry I kissed you. I shouldn’t have. It was a mistake. But it won’t happen again.”

“Good,” she said, not able to think of anything better to say.
------------------

“And you’re sure it will be there within twenty four hours?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

The woman nodded and took the small package from Dawn’s hands. The passport would soon be on its way to the U.S. via priority mail and would arrive sometime the next day.

Dawn sighed. She had yet to talk to her sister, not really knowing how to contact her. She wanted to know what was going through her head and if she was really in a hurry to get home.

As if the powers that be knew what she was thinking, her cell phone began to ring. The number was unknown.

“Hello.”

“Hey Dawnie,” Buffy replied.

“Buffy. Oh my god. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she said, in the most cheerful voice she could muster.

“Really? Cause you don’t sound fine. You sound like you’re pretending to be fine so that I won’t worry. I’m worried, Buffy.” Dawn knew her sister’s tendency to make things sound less bad than they really were, and just hoped she wasn’t doing that now.

“Well don’t. There’s nothing to be worried about. I’m good. I promise. As long as you sent my passport.”

“Just did. They said it would be there tomorrow sometime. You can call and check around noon.”

The slayer let out a sigh of relief. “Good.” The sooner her passport arrived, the sooner she could get home and away from all this confusion.

“Buffy?”

“What?”

“How are you doing? With Spike I mean? Is it weird?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Is he…different?” Dawn wondered.

“A little. I mean…he has a job and his own apartment and a girlfriend.”

“Uhuh.” The part about the girlfriend did not go unnoticed by the younger girl. “And what does she think about him loving you?”

“What?” The question caught Buffy off guard.

“Mandy told us about the spell.”

“Oh.” Fan-freekin-tastic. Now, not only did Angel know where she was, but now he knew the details of the spell that had sent her here. She could only imagine how well he was taking all of this.

“How did he react when you told him?” Dawn wondered. She wanted to further inquire as to whether he said something like ‘of course, luv’ or ‘bloody hell’ but assumed Buffy wouldn’t give her all of the details anyway. At least not over the phone.

“I didn’t exactly tell him.”

“You didn’t tell him about the spell?”

“Well, I told him there was a spell, just not the specifics.”

“Buffy! You have to tell him.”

“Why? What would be the point in telling him? It would just make things…awkward.” ‘More awkward,’ she added in her head.

“So you think the spell worked then?”

There it was. The question that had been plaguing her since she’d first woken up with Spike. Had the spell worked? Did he really love her more than anyone else in the world?

“I…I don’t know.”
--------------------

Chapter 6

“Can I take your order, ma’am?”

Buffy looked up at the waitress. “Just a cup of coffee.” She had lost her appetite after talking to Dawn.

“Are you sure? Our cook makes a mean omelet.”

“I’m sure. Thanks.”

“Alright then,” the young girl smiled and bounced back towards the front counter.

The girl looked to be in her early twenties. Her red hair, which she currently had hanging in pigtails, and the freckles that dotted her cheeks and nose, seemed to match her southern accent well. An accent that men surely found charming. An accent like Katie’s.

Buffy put a hand to her forehead and sighed. She had hoped that by talking to her sister, that she would get some sort of reassurance that the life that she’d left in England was the right one for her, but all she had gotten was Dawn basically asking if she wanted her to stall with the others. Which of course had put the thought into her head; did she want her to stall? And if so, what did that mean?

The call that was supposed to have made all of this easier had somehow seemed to make it only more complicated. When she had left the apartment, Spike hadn’t been in the best of moods. It was partly her fault, she knew. But what had he expected? He had kissed her when he knew she was getting married. Who did that?

‘Who lets a man kiss her, no…kisses him back…when they were getting married?’ her mind kept asking her. ‘And worse yet, who likes it?’

All of the questions that kept plaguing her brain were melting all together. They seemed to be forming one question, or rather, one two part question. Did Spike really love her more than anyone else, and if he did, did she love him back? It was something that she hadn’t had to think about or deal with for years. Back in Sunnydale, she had been so sure that she couldn’t love him, at least until those last few months. But even then she hadn’t been sure. No, it wasn’t until that moment that their hands had caught fire that she had been almost sure she was wrong all along. Loving him was not impossible. And a part of her had felt the emotion and the words had come out of her mouth before she could give it a second thought.

But those feelings had been left in the rubble and that was where she intended for them to remain. And yet somehow she was sitting alone in a diner in Atlanta, Georgia trying to convince herself that going home was the right thing to do.

“Here you go,” the waitress said as she sat the cup of coffee down on the table. “Sure I can’t get you nothing else?”

“No, I’m good. Thank you.”

The girl nodded and headed over to help a group of older gentlemen that had seated themselves at one of the larger tables.

Buffy took a sip of coffee. Any other day she would have put enough sugar into it that it may as well have not even been coffee, but today, for some reason, she preferred it black.
--------------------

Spike glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven and the slayer still wasn’t back. She’d said she was going to the diner, but that had been nearly two hours ago. His mind told him she was just trying to avoid him.

What the bloody hell had he been thinking? That was just it. He hadn’t been thinking. That seemed to be something he couldn’t do effectively when the slayer was around. He would really need to work on that. Not that it really mattered. She would be gone in a few days, back to England and out of his life forever. Unless of course he himself paid a visit to the motherland. It was his home after all.

Spike shook his head. No. He would not visit her again, and she would never come back to him. In reality, she hadn’t even willingly come this time. A stupid mix up of words in a spell had done that for her. Magic had always been something Spike tried to steer clear from. Nothing good ever came of it. And no matter how much the back of his mind tried to scream that maybe this was a good thing, he couldn’t convince himself of it. It couldn’t be that good of a thing. Yes, he was getting to see Buffy again, but she would also be leaving as soon as possible and heading back to marry Captain Forehead. It was something he wouldn’t have even had to think about if she’d not been magically poofed into his bed. At least not this much.

He also wouldn’t have been unfaithful to his girlfriend. Spike still felt a pang of guilt when he thought about Katie. She would be angry and hurt if she ever found out about the kiss. But really there was no real reason to tell her. Buffy would be gone soon and he had no intention of trying to kiss her anymore.

Spike turned his head at the sound of the door opening, but when he saw her coming in he quickly looked away. No reason for her to think he was waiting on her.

Buffy spotted him on the couch as soon as she walked through the door.

“Hey.”

He nodded in her direction but didn’t say anything.

She stood there in the middle of the living room for a moment, waiting for him to say something…anything. When he didn’t, she decided to fill in the silence.

“I talked to Dawn. She already mailed my passport, so it should be here tomorrow around noon. Or…maybe. I don’t know that she accounted for the time difference.”

“Great.”

His one word answers were starting to annoy her. “Can’t we just move past this?”

“What’s that?”

“Us being all avoidy and non-talky. We kissed. It was…wrong and stupid…” ‘And great,’ she thought despite herself. “And like you said…it won’t happen again. So we can just forget about it and move on. And since I’m gonna be here another night, we may as well not spend it staring at the wall.”

He raised an eyebrow at her little speech. So she wanted to spend the night what? Talking? Patrolling? “So what exactly do you have in mind?”

“Well,” she said, seemingly thinking about what to say, “I thought maybe you could show me around town. I’ve never been to Atlanta.” She been trying to come up with a good plan since she’d left the diner; something they could do that wouldn’t seem to…natural. It was the patrolling that had done it. It had reminded her of old times and how good it used to feel killing things and somehow those feelings had been transferred to Spike. But that would not happen tonight. They would do something out of the ordinary for them. Sightseeing seemed like the obvious choice.

“Yeah, I suppose I could do that.” Her request sounded innocent enough, but he had a feeling that she was trying to avoid talking about something.

“And maybe Katie could come with us.” It wasn’t that Buffy really wanted to face the other girl, the one she felt she had wronged, but it would be better if she were there, if they were not alone.

Spike gave her a curious expression. So she didn’t want to be alone with him, that much was obvious. “You don’t know what you’re in for, luv. There’s nothing Katie likes to talk about more than Georgia.”

“Well, that’s good then because I don’t know anything about it.”

Buffy knew she sounded a little too enthusiastic about the whole thing and it wasn’t like she had a dire need to learn about this state, especially since she was leaving tomorrow, but getting out of the apartment would be good…for everyone.

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly as Buffy watched TV while Spike tried to busy himself with anything and everything he had been meaning to catch up on. When five o’clock finally rolled around they were both thankful for the brunette woman who walked through the door.

“Hey,” she called out.

“Hello luv,” Spike returned.

She approached him and gave him their ritual kiss, as Buffy had come to call it in her head, before sitting down on the edge of the table.

“So, what have ya’ll been up to today?”

“Not much. We’ve been waiting for you actually.”

“Me? Why?”

“Well, Buffy was hoping you wouldn’t mind showing her around the city on her last night here.”

“Her last night? Buffy, you’re leaving?” she asked, turning to face the girl on the couch.

“Yeah. My passport is on its way as we speak.”

“I hate it that you’re leaving, but I guess it is a good thing.”

“Pet,” Spike said in a slightly disapproving voice.

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that she seemed like she really wanted to get back home is all.”

“Yeah,” Buffy replied. “Who knows what all I’ve missed.”
------------------------------

“What the bloody hell happened here?” Giles demanded.

The two young slayers looked up at him with ‘hand caught in the cookie jar’ guilt written all over their faces. Surrounding them were piles of books that had been knocked off of the shelves in the library.

“We’re really sorry, Mr. Giles. We’ll clean it up,” the girl with dark brown hair said.

“Bloody right you will.” He rubbed his temples and sighed. Sometimes it felt like he was running a daycare more so than a Watcher’s Council. “And why are you two not in class?”

“Angel didn’t show,” the blonde replied. “So we decided to practice on our own. I guess the library wasn’t the best place, huh?”

“I should say not.” Giles pulled his cellular phone from his pocket and dialed. Angel had not called to say he would not be in class so where was he? ‘Hopefully not on his way to America,’ he thought to himself.

The phone rang several times but he received no reply. Almost immediately after ending the call the phone began to vibrate. At first he thought it might be the ex-vampire calling him back, but a quick look at the caller ID told him it was Dawn.

“Hello.”

“Hey Giles. Listen, I mailed Buffy’s passport. They said it should get there around noon their time tomorrow, so she should be home tomorrow night if she can get a flight.”

“That’s great, Dawn.”

“What’s wrong? You sound all bad moody?”

“It’s nothing. I just…have you spoken with Angel today?”

“No why?”

“He hasn’t shown up for work.”

“That’s not like him. Wait, Giles…you don’t think… You don’t think he went to America, do you?”

Dawn distinctly remembered them telling him not to do that; that it would be a waste of time. And Buffy would be home sometime late tomorrow or early the morning after that. Surely he wasn’t that stupid; though the ex-vampire had made more than one questionable decision as of late. It was the stress of the wedding Buffy had said when Angel had started losing important papers and missing appointments. It was his adjustment to being human that had caused him to choose to take on a large demon by himself which ended him up in the hospital with a few broken ribs. The young girl sighed. Of course he had gone to get her.

“I’ll try to call him.”

“Alright. Let me know if you hear anything.”

“I will.”

Dawn hung up the phone and immediately wished she could call Buffy to warn her. What if her sister had done what she seemed so afraid to; admitted that the spell had probably worked and that she did indeed love Spike back. And what if they were trying to work things out and Angel came knocking? Getting angrier by the minute Dawn dialed Angel’s number and listened as it rang one too many times for her liking. She was well prepared to fuss him out if he ever answered.
---------------------

“This is...pretty nifty,” Buffy said lamely.

“Yeah, well, I think so. But I guess I’m a little biased. I bet it’s nothing compared to England, though. They have all of those historic landmarks and buildings. I told Spike he has to take me there someday.”

Buffy and Katie were standing outside of the Hard Rock Café. After finding out Buffy had never eaten at one, Katie had insisted that be where they go. “Everyone should eat at Hard Rock sometime. And everyone should own at least one piece of Hard Rock apparel.” That’s where Spike currently was; waiting in line to buy Buffy her very own Hard Rock shirt. She’d been quite insistent that she didn’t need one; why have a reminder of this trip, but Katie wouldn’t give up until she agreed.

“Yeah.”

“So, tell me more about your fiancé. He must be worried sick about you. Have you talked to him recently?”

“There’s really not much to tell. And no, I haven’t talked to him since I got here.”

“You haven’t talked to him since you got to America? Spike said you’d been here like a week before he ran into you.”

Crap. “He’s uhh…been working a lot. I didn’t want to distract him.”

“Uhuh.” Katie nodded and looked like she was thinking about something.

“I have talked to my sister. I’m sure she’s relaying everything I say.”

“That’s nice of her. You know, I always wished that I had a sister. I have a younger brother, though. He’s the best, but boys don’t like to do things like shop. Like that one,” she said pointing at Spike who was coming out of the door. “I have the hardest time getting him to go anywhere. I’m surprised he volunteered to get your shirt. Usually he won’t stand in line.”

“Yeah, Angel doesn’t like it either,” Buffy said as much for her own benefit as for Katie’s.

“Men.”

“Talking about me?” Spike asked approaching the two of them.

“Of course not, honey,” Katie said giving him a peck on the mouth.

Buffy found herself looking at the pavement. It really shouldn’t bother her, but of course it did.

Spike handed the bag to Buffy.

“Thanks.”

He nodded his ‘your welcome’.

“So where to next?” Katie asked them.

“Wherever you want, luv.”

“Or wherever Buffy wants.”

They both looked at her.

“I don’t have a preference. Katie’s the tour guide. Where do you recommend?” She caught herself casting a glance at Spike.

“Well….we could go to the aquarium. Do you like aquariums, Buffy?”

“Sure.” Fish would be a nice distraction. Maybe they wouldn’t have to talk much in there. Buffy didn’t think she could take any more small talk with the country girl.

“We’re off then,” Spike said making motions with his hands. He wasn’t exactly crazy about the idea. He didn’t give a bloody rip about sea life, but he would do whatever his girls…girl wanted to do.

As they started walking, Spike in the middle of the girls, towards the aquarium, Buffy couldn’t help but feel a little comfort. The vampire’s presence always seemed to bring that feeling to the surface and she decided not to let it bother her. What was the point in fretting over it? It didn’t mean anything. Friends should feel comfortable around other friends. That was how it worked. She let herself relax for the first time since she’d woken up in Atlanta, Georgia and it felt good.

Spike cast a look over at the slayer and noticed that she was smiling. After a moment she realized he was looking at her and turned her gaze on him. He couldn’t help but to slightly smile back. The moment was over almost as soon as it had begun, but it left them both with a sense of ease.

Katie watched them out of the corner of her eye. The way Spike acted around this girl bothered her more than a little. Yes, Buffy had said she was getting married, but that had only temporarily calmed her fears. She got an uneasy feeling around them; almost like she didn’t belong, and she didn’t like it at all.
--------------------

“Dancing? Really, pet, you know I don’t dance.”

“I know. But I love it, and so does Buffy.”

Buffy hadn’t remembered ever saying she loved dancing. She had commented in passing that she used to go dancing with her friends back in Sunnydale, and apparently that had been interpreted as she really wanted to go dancing.

Spike sighed. “Alright.”

The three of them managed to pass through the door of a club/bar called Wiley’s with no problem. The bouncer at the door seemed to recognize Katie and reminded Buffy of the guy that had once told her Spike was a player. She felt a sense of déjà vu and attempted to shake it off. The music was playing loud, as to be expected, but was blasting out a song Buffy had never heard.

Katie led both of them out onto the dance floor. She began dancing around and finally Buffy managed to relax enough to join her. Spike swayed slightly, but made no attempt to really dance. More than halfway through the third song, Katie excused herself to go to the bathroom.

“Don’t look so excited,” Buffy said teasingly to the vampire, who looked less than thrilled about the whole thing.

He gave her a look that plainly said ‘poke fun at me again and see what happens’ and it only caused her to laugh. Her laugher was short lived; however, when the upbeat song ended and in its place, a slow song started to play. They both stood there awkwardly amongst the other people who began to dance.

“You wanna uhh…” Spike started, holding out his hand.

“I thought you didn’t dance.”

“I don’t, but I also don’t fancy fighting my way through this crowd.”

Buffy looked around them and realized he was right. They were surrounded by people all dancing in a slow rhythm. It would be nearly impossible to get out now. They would have to wait until the song ended and a path cleared. She looked back at his extended hand and nervously reached out to grab it.

He pulled her to him slowly and placed his hands on her waist, as hers went around his neck. Buffy immediately looked over his shoulder, not wanting her face to be too close to his. They began to move as the song played.

I fell in love at a glance,
Should have known I’d never have a chance
To be with you in the long run.
You have a plan I am not in,
You’re gonna move up North to live again
Whenever school is over.
So I have to let you go,
But before you leave me here,
There’s something you should know.

Spike could feel the warmth of her body that was very close to his, and couldn’t stop himself from thinking about the past. One night in particular stood out. The night he had told her why he loved her; the first night he’d ever spent holding anyone. The best night of his life. He willed himself not to think about it too long.

I’ll bet you never had a clue,
But I’d do anything to be with you.
I’d leave this place in a heart beat.
I’d move away from my sweet home,
Just to be your faithful tagalong.
I’d follow you forever.
But if you’re better left alone,
I’ll do my best to understand,
Still my love will linger on.

Buffy was having problems keeping her mind off of the whole situation. Their current closeness reminded her a little too much of the previous night’s kiss. She still had to admit that it felt good even though everything about it was wrong. ‘Or is it,’ her mind demanded. Because maybe, just maybe, the spell had worked exactly right and she was right where she should be.

When the sun goes down in Georgia,
I’ll be drifting back in time
Wishing love could have changed your mind.
When the moonlight shines through the pine trees,
I’ll get lost in memories,
Dreaming you are here with me.
Oh, it’s sad but true,
I’m just your love sick fool,
So when the sun goes down in Georgia,
I’ll be missing you.

As the oh-too-appropriate song ended, Buffy pulled back, but only slightly. Neither of them relinquished a hold on the other. Their eyes met and Spike could feel her breath on his face. The air had grown thick, much as it had the night before, and they were both prepared for what was coming. What they weren’t prepared for was the girl who was now standing next to them.

“Am I interrupting something?” Katie asked.
----------------------

Of course it was raining. That was just his luck. He really hated England sometimes. It was almost two o’clock. He realized he’d been up for going on 30 hours now and the way his feet were dragging and his eyes were threatening to close at every pause told him he would have to get some rest soon. But there were still things he needed to finish.

Angel felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket. It was Dawn. Again. He sighed and pushed the silence button and put it back in his pocket. It was the hundredth call he’d received from either her or Giles and so far he hadn’t answered a one of them. He knew what they were thinking. He hadn’t shown up for work yesterday or today and their conversation from the day before had led them all to come to the logical conclusion that he had ignored their advice and gone to America. And in reality, he had thought about it. But in the end he knew they were right; Buffy would be home soon, hopefully, and he had other obligations. He would; however, let them think the worst of him for now. He didn’t have time to explain what he was really doing today.

The rain seemed to pick up and Angel found himself walking faster. He was almost to the restaurant when the bottom fell out. Luckily, he was fortunate enough to make it to the covered sidewalk and didn’t get drenched by the falling rain. The door to the restaurant opened and he was greeted by a mob of friendly hostesses.

“Can I help you, sir?” one of them asked.

“Yes, I’m meeting someone.”

“Name?”

Before he could speak, a woman came from behind her. “Mr. Angel. Welcome. Your friend is already here. Please follow me.”

Angel had been to the restaurant many times now and the brunette who usually worked the hostess stand had come to know him by name. She led him to the back side of the restaurant to a dimly lit table. He nodded his thanks as she headed back to the front and then he took a seat at the table.

“Angel, I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show,” the woman said with a smile.

“I always do.”
--------------------------

“All right, thank you very much.” Buffy hung the phone up and frowned despite herself.

“Get everything sorted out?” Spike asked her from, where else, the kitchen.

“Yeah, the passport came in this morning. My flight leaves at 7:15 tonight.”

It was good news. Really it was. Her passport had come and now she could head back home and get ready for what should be the greatest day of her life. And here she was frowning.

“That soon? I didn’t think they would be able to get you in till real late or early tomorrow,” Katie said. “You’re gonna get home at like seven or eight in the morning.” She was in the kitchen helping Spike cut vegetables. They had decided to make vegetable lo mien for lunch; it was one of Katie’s favorites.

“There was one flight in the morning, but the only seats left were first class and I didn’t want Spike to have to lend me any more money. I already feel like a moocher.”

“Nonsense,” Katie said. “But maybe you’ll be able to get some sleep on the way home, anyway.”

Buffy noticed how Katie hadn’t looked at her once since opening her mouth. In fact, she hadn’t looked at her much since the night before. Dancing had been a bad idea. But it wasn’t like anything had happened. So she had danced with Spike. And so maybe they had almost kissed again. They hadn’t. It wasn’t that Katie seemed angry or upset, she just seemed…distant. She hadn’t even given Spike his daily kiss today. Not even once. Sure, she was all smiles as usual and she was helping fix a late lunch, but there was something different about her attitude. She almost seemed…worried.

But what had she to worry about? ‘Maybe you and her boyfriend,’ Buffy’s brain screamed at her. ‘You and your lips that somehow keep getting a little too close to his.’ She tried to shake the thoughts away as she moved into the kitchen and sat down at the table. They had both already told her they didn’t need help, so she resorted to picking at the table.

“The food should be done soon,” Katie said. “The veggies won’t take long to soften. How are the noodles coming, Spike?”

“Almost ready, luv.”

Buffy looked at the couple, thinking it odd that Katie had called the vampire by his name. Usually, she called him honey or baby or some other annoying pet name.

And the tension didn’t seem to ease as they all ate their lunch without much conversation at all.

After they finished, the slayer started thinking about the later flight home. She wasn’t the biggest fan of flying and thought it best if she had some motion sickness medicine in her system before takeoff. She asked Spike and Katie if they had any Dramamine but of course they did not.

“I think I should get some. Flying and Buffy are unmixy things.”

“Here,” Spike said, handing her a five dollar bill. “There’s a convenience store around the corner that will probably have some.”

“Thanks. Do either of you need anything?” Buffy asked, feeling slightly guilty for borrowing more money from her ex.

They both responded with a no and Buffy headed out the door. Almost as soon as it closed shut, Katie spoke.

“I can’t do this anymore, Spike.”

He looked over at her, confused. “I can clean up, pet.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” She put the plate down and stepped back. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He was genuinely concerned now.

“Last night, at Wiley’s, you were dancing with Buffy.”

“Yeah?”

She took a deep breath. “And you almost kissed her.”

“Pet…”

She held up her hand. “Let me finish. You almost kissed her, but you didn’t. And that should mean something, right? That you didn’t do it. But the problem is you wanted to. And don’t say you didn’t, cause I know you did. I could see it in the way you looked at her.” She started pacing around the kitchen. “I spent all night thinking about it, and the only thing I could think was that you don’t look at me like anymore, if you ever did. So…I can’t do this anymore.”

“What are you saying?” he asked, though a part of him knew where this was going.

“I’m saying…I want to break up.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him.

“You don’t love me,” she said. “And it didn’t used to bother me because I thought that eventually you would; that you would let me in.” She turned away. “But it’s becoming pretty clear that that’s never gonna happen.”

She paused again, but for the life of him, Spike couldn’t think of anything to say.

“You still have feelings for her.” It wasn’t a question. “I knew it from the second I saw you with her. I tried to deny it. I tried to pretend that it was just my imagination. But it’s not. You still want to be with her.” Katie had managed to keep her voice calm throughout. It would be pointless to yell.

“She’s getting married in two weeks.” It was a lame answer, but it was the best he could come up with.

“And if she wasn’t?” she said, turning back around to face him. “If she wasn’t marrying someone else, and she told you that she wanted to be with you, can you tell me that you would say no? That you would stay with me?”

“That would never happen.”

“Which part?”

He couldn’t answer.

Katie took a step closer to him. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you’re not still in love with her.”

Spike met her eyes and wanted to speak, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t deny what he knew was true.

“That’s what I thought.” Katie turned away once again. She had just received the confirmation she had known was coming. And despite the fact that she was ready, that she was expecting it, it still hurt. She was really falling for him, but he wasn’t falling for her, and he never had been. “I should go. I’ll come by and get my things later.”

“Katie, wait…please. I…I’ll try harder.” He didn’t know what else to say but that he would try. He would try to forget the slayer and he would try to love her.

She turned back around. “That’s the thing, Spike. You shouldn’t have to try. It should just be there. And it is with her.”

“She doesn’t love me.”

“But it is fair for me to love you when you still want her?”

No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t fair to ask her to stay. And so he wouldn’t.

Katie walked back over to him and put her arms around him in a quick hug. She placed a kiss on his cheek and then stepped back. “I’m really gonna miss you, but I think this is for the best.” She headed for the door. Before she left the apartment she gave him one final look. “And you’re wrong. She does love you. I know she does.”
--------------------

Dawn closed her eyes and lay down on the small cushioned bench. The day had dragged on and on and she was beyond ready to go home. Giles had kept her busy most of the day running “errands” for him. Who knew an old British guy had so much on his to-do list? She heard the door at the end of the hall open and opened her eyes. When she saw who it was, she sat up quickly.

“Angel?” she said surprised.

The ex-vampire glanced down at her. “Dawn.”

“You’re not…in America.”

“No, I’m not.”

“But…you didn’t show up for work so I thought…”

“You thought I went to get Buffy.”

“Well yeah.”

Angel continued walking down the hall and Dawn got up to follow him.

“Wait, so, if you didn’t go to America, then where were you? And why didn’t you answer any of my calls?”

“None of your business,” he said with a slight smile. “And I was busy.”

“Too busy to answer the phone?” she asked skeptically.

“Yes.”

“And why didn’t you tell anyone you were missing work for two days?”

“I did. I told Xander.”

“Well, why did you do that? Giles was pretty pissed.”

“Tell him I’m sorry then. I’m just under a lot of stress right now…with the wedding coming up.”

Dawn stopped walking and rolled her eyes. “Yeah…right.” She looked after him vowing to herself that she would find out where he had really been the last two days, even if it was possible that she didn’t want to know.
--------------------

Buffy opened the door to the apartment and stepped inside. Everything looked the same. Spike was in the kitchen as per usual moving things around. Nothing was out of place, but something felt…different. It was almost like there was an invisible blanket of gloominess in the air.

“Honey, I’m home,” Buffy said jokingly in an attempt to lighten the perceived unhappiness.

“Did you get what you needed?”

“Yeah. Thanks. I promise I’ll pay you back. I’ll wire you the money as soon as I get home.”

“I told you, you don’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want to.”

Buffy looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearly 3:30. With all of the hassle she was sure to face at the airport, i.e. picking up her passport, she wanted to get there by four at the latest. She didn’t have bags to check, but the Atlanta airport had been packed to the max with people last time she’d gone, and the last thing she needed was to miss her flight.

“We should probably leave soon. But like I said, I can take a cab.”

“No, I’ll drive you.”

Her earlier perception of gloom was reinforced by Spike’s attitude. He seemed to be moving around the kitchen in almost slow motion. Buffy noticed for the first time that the other girl was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Katie?” she asked, and then added, “I want to say goodbye before I leave.” It seemed less nosey that way.

“She’s gone,” he said putting the dishes he’d just taken off of the table into the sink.

“Well, when is she coming back?”

He turned the water on. “She’s not coming back.”

Buffy’s face took on a look of confusion. “What do you mean she’s not coming back?”

“Just what I said, luv, she’s gone…for good.” He turned off the faucet and dried his hands on a towel.

“What?”

He turned to face her. “She left me.”

Buffy’s face dropped. “Why?”

He shook his head. “S’not important. What is important is that we get you to the airport before you miss your flight.” He walked past her and went to grab his keys off of the end table.

She remained standing where she was, her mind racing. She felt sick. His girlfriend had left him, and she was pretty sure she knew why.

“Is it…is it because of me?” She turned around to look at him.

He had an unreadable expression on his face. “No. It’s because of me.”

She wasn’t sure if she believed that. “So it had nothing to do with me being here?”

He wanted to say no, but couldn’t. Instead he simply remained quiet. She took his silence as a yes.

“What did she say?”

“Nothing.” He started to the door.

“Spike.”

He knew she wouldn’t give up that easily. He looked back at her.

“Please.”

He sighed. Telling her the truth would probably only make him look pathetic, but what did it really matter? She was leaving anyway. “She thinks…she thinks I’m still in love with you.”

“And are you?” she asked without thinking. She wasn’t really sure she wanted to know the answer to that. It could complicate everything. Not that this trip hadn’t already done that.

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?”

“I just…I don’t know, alright?”

“You have to know.”

“Well, I bloody well don’t,” he yelled at her.

She closed her mouth. She didn’t want to push him any farther. Though she hadn’t seen him in years, she knew when to stop.

“This is all just so bloody confusing. I mean everything was good. I had a great job, a wonderful girl; it made sense. And then you show up and everything changed,” he ranted.

“I’m sorry,” she offered.

“S’not your fault, pet.”

“But it is…I’m the one who had this spell cast. I’m the one who showed up here. You said so yourself, remember?”

“I was wrong. It isn’t your fault. It’s no one’s fault. Sometimes things just happen and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

They both remained quiet a few moments.

“We should go,” he finally said.

She nodded. He opened the door and they started out.
---------------------------------

They didn’t speak much during the car ride, neither really knowing what to say. Spike was wrestling with his feelings. He knew he loved this woman and always would. The question remained; was he still in love with her? He was almost afraid to give it too much thought. It terrified him to think that he was still in love with her.

Buffy was having similar fears. Could Spike still be in love with her? It had been almost five years. How could he still have such strong feelings for her? The spell that she'd tried so hard not to think about all day made its way into her mind. Loves her the most.

When the car finally pulled into the airport, Spike parked it in the thirty-minute parking space. Yeah, he would probably be there longer than that, but it wasn’t like he would pay the ticket even if they gave him one.

“You don’t have to go in with me,” Buffy tried to tell him. ‘It will make this easier,’ she wanted to add.

“I just want to make sure you get everything straightened out before I leave. Wouldn’t want to have to come back and get you, now would I, pet?”

He had a point. Yes, they had called and said her passport had come in, but that was no guarantee that she was going to get it. And she would hate having to make him drive all the way back, fighting the Atlanta traffic, to pick her up if she couldn’t catch the flight.

It took her nearly two and a half hours to get everything sorted out. The passport had been more difficult than she thought to pick up, and they had asked for her driver’s license, like she would have that with her. Spike had come close to threatening one of the ticket workers, who claimed Buffy didn’t have the appropriate paperwork to retrieve her ticket. But finally, she had managed to get everything she needed and then just had to get through security.

By this point, it was nearly 6:30 p.m. The plane would be boarding soon and she would be on her way home. She looked over to Spike, who seemed okay, despite having been broken up with a few hours before. Buffy still felt extremely guilty about the whole thing. She’d all but managed to ruin his life in the few days that she had been there.

Then, she realized, she owed him something; the truth. She had yet to reveal the true reason that she had ended up in America with him, and though it would probably only make things worse, something inside of her was nagging at her to tell him the truth. She would be leaving soon, and might never see him again. It was now or never.

They stopped walking as they approached security.

“This is as far as I go,” Spike said gesturing with his hands.

“I have to tell you something.” She clasped her hands together and turned toward him.

“Okay,” he said, unsure of what she would say.

“I lied to you.”

Spike raised an eyebrow in question and cocked his head to the side as she talked.

“About the spell,” she continued. “It wasn’t supposed to send me to my ex vampire lover.” She took a breath. “It was supposed to send to the man who…loves me the most.”

“Oh.” He looked slightly stunned by what she had said.

“And imagine my surprise when I wake up with you instead of Angel.”

Spike snorted. “Guess Tall, Dark, and Forehead isn’t as great as you thought.”

“He still loves me, Spike. And I love him.”

Spike felt himself wince slightly at her words. Of course she loved him. She always had. And why should one little spell change any of that? So what if he loved her more than Angel? That just made him a winner at a losing game now, didn’t it?

“Flight 320 to London, now boarding,” came a voice over the loudspeaker.

Buffy’s eyes were on the floor. Why did this goodbye seem so hard?

“That’s you.”

Her eyes rose to meet his as she bit down on the inside of her cheek. “I guess it is.”

She made no initial attempt to move and Spike thought briefly about asking her if she really wanted to leave, but then she took a step back and looked over her shoulder.

“Something wrong, luv?” he asked.

“No, nothing. I just…I’m not a fan of airplanes.”

“So don’t go.”
----------------------

Buffy stared out the window of the plane and wished it would hurry up and take off. She half expected to see Spike at any minute; that he’d decided to come with her or to try to convince her to stay. But more so than that, she was afraid of what she might do if she had to sit here much longer.

“Are you alright?”

Buffy looked at the girl who had taken a seat beside her. She resembled the waitress from the diner, only with darker hair and no pigtails.

“Sorry, I know it’s none of my business, you just look like you’re about to be sick or something.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s just…have you ever been so sure about something? So sure that…that it was right? And then something else happens and makes you question everything?”

The girl gave her a strange look, having not expected that kind of answer.

“Sorry,” Buffy said, slightly embarrassed. “Forget that.”

“No, it’s cool. And to answer your question, yeah. I mean there’ve been some times when I’ve had to change my whole way of thinking. Sometimes what we think is right, isn’t.” The girl regretted her answer as soon as she saw the look on the blonde’s face. That apparently wasn’t what she had wanted to hear. “Do you wanna talk about it? They say it’s easier to tell your problems to a stranger.”

Buffy glanced warily at the girl. In normal circumstances, she probably would have kept her mouth shut. But today she felt a little like talking. And what would be better than to talk to an unbiased third party with absolutely no real interest in the matter?

“I’m getting married in two weeks.”

“That’s great. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Buffy looked down at her hands.

“Is that all? You’re nervous about getting married?”

The slayer shook her head. “No, I mean yes, but…” She looked back at the girl. “For the last few days, I’ve been with my ex-boyfriend.”

“Oh,” the girl said as if she knew where this was going.

“It doesn’t make sense. The guy I’m marrying is the love of my life. He’s the first person I ever loved and the one person I always thought I would spend the rest of my life with. And the other guy, well, we were never even really together. I wasn’t even sure that I loved him. But…” she took a deep breath, “I’m thinking about getting off the plane. Am I crazy? I have this great life. I have a job I love and a fiancé who’s like my soul mate…”

“And?”

“And I’m thinking about getting off of the plane.”

“And you think that makes you crazy? Honey, trust me, we all have moments like that. It doesn’t mean we’ve lost it. It just means that we’ve broadened our scope, if that makes any sense.”

“What should I do?”

The girl could tell she was serious. She really seemed to be torn.

“Well, ask yourself this. What is it that you really want?”
--------------------------

Buffy walked through the gate in the London airport. All around her people were meeting their loved ones with hugs and kisses. It gave her a bit of a sick feeling. She had managed to sleep little on the eight hour flight and felt less than fantastic. When she finally managed to clear the crowd of people, she saw her. She was waiting near the center aisle. As soon as the girl saw her, she walked quickly to where she was.

“Hey,” Dawn said, hugging her sister.

“Hey,” she replied.

“You’re back.”

“Yes I am.”

They started walking back through the airport.

“So, how did it go?” Dawn asked curiously.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Buffy said unconvincingly.

“You know exactly what I mean. Did you tell Spike the truth?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And nothing, Dawn. I told him about the spell and then I got on the plane.”

“You did not.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Buffy,” Dawn said disapprovingly. “You told him and then ran and jumped on a plane without giving him a chance to make a case for himself? Kinda cowardly, don’t you think?”

“I don’t want him to make a case for himself.”

“Are you sure about that?”

The day had finally come; the day she had been dreaming about since she was a little girl. In only a few hours she would be a married woman. So, why was she not more excited? And why did this dress seem to look all wrong? It was a beautiful gown, off-white in color, with beading in spirals down the front and back, but there was something off in the way it looked on her.

“Are you ready?” Dawn asked her sister.

Buffy stared at her reflection. “Just about.”

The younger girl walked up beside her. “Good. We need to take all of the pictures we can before the guests start arriving. And don’t worry; Angel isn’t even here yet, so he won’t see you in your dress.”

“Okay,” she replied, distracted.

“Buffy, are you sure about this? Getting married, I mean.” It was the question that she’d wanted to ask ever since she had seen her sister at the airport, but something had stopped her. Until now.

“What? Of course I’m sure. Why would you ask that?”

“Oh, no reason. And it’s definitely not because it’s your wedding day and you’re acting more like someone died.”

“I am not. I’m happy,” she replied, looking in the mirror once more. “I’m happy.”

Dawn was in no way convinced but decided to let it drop for now. After all, Buffy had been all psyched about marrying Angel a few weeks ago. Maybe that excitement would return in enough time for them to say their vows. And if it didn’t, well, she had a plan B. It involved something like a diversion and an escape plan.

“Then let’s go.”

Buffy took a step back and turned around to see Dawn leaving the room. Why couldn’t she just stay out of it? Why did she always have to bring Buffy’s doubts out in the open? That made them all the more real. The slayer knew it was natural to have wedding day jitters. It happened to everyone. But there was something different about the way she felt. It wasn’t that she was nervous about spending the rest of her life with one man and it wasn’t like she was afraid of commitment. It was something…someone else.

“Something wrong, luv?” he asked.

“No, nothing. I just…I’m not a fan of airplanes.”

“So don’t go.”

She wasn’t sure whether he had meant that the way it sounded or not, but it caught her a little off guard. “I have to.”

“Right. With the wedding and all that.”

“Yeah. And work,” she added, as if to make it sound like Angel wasn’t the only reason she was leaving.

He nodded. “I guess this is goodbye.”

“I guess so.”

In cliché fashion, Buffy took a step closer and put an arm around his neck, hugging him. He hugged her back for a little too long. She was starting to get that nervous feeling in her stomach. Pulling back and looking at him felt awkward and she wished she could be on the plane already.

“I’ll see you, Spike.”

“No you won’t,” he said, just loud enough for her to hear.

So she’d said goodbye to Spike for what would probably be the last time. She had a right to be a little sad about that, right? After all, they had been friends. Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She would not think about the vampire anymore.
------------------

It was a quarter to two and Angel still had not arrived. A phone call from Xander a half hour before had let them know they were stuck in traffic. The wedding wasn’t until 2:30, but people were already showing up and he still had to get dressed once he arrived.

“Mandy, will you please call Xander again and see where they are?” Dawn asked the girl, who appeared to be bored out of her mind. “I really need to check on my sister.” The picture taking process had been hell and the photographer was insisting on taking eighty solo shots of Buffy, who, from the looks of things, had thought seriously about slaying the older woman.

“Sure.” She grabbed her cell phone off of the table and dialed.

“Hello,” Xander answered, sounding exasperated.

“How close are you two to being here?”

“About twenty minutes from the looks of things.”

“You know the wedding starts in less than an hour and Angel still has to get ready.”

“Yes, we are aware of that. But unless you want to use some magic spell to get us there faster, you’re just going to have to wait.”

“Alright, I’ll tell them,” Mandy replied.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Xander said and then added, “And you know I was kidding about magic.”

“I know, I know.”

She hung up the phone about the time Dawn and Buffy re-entered the room.

“Did you get them?” Dawn asked.

“Yeah, he said they would be here in twenty.”

“Twenty minutes?”

Mandy shrugged. “That’s what they said.” She noticed how Buffy didn’t seem to be freaking out as much as Dawn was about this whole thing.

“They’ll be here,” Buffy said, not sounding as happy as was probably expected of her for today. She sat down carefully on the stool provided for her, determined not to wrinkle the dress. It was too warm of a day outside today, especially for taking photographs. She was beginning to sweat, which would do nothing for her hair, which was in an up-do twist style with a few ringlets hanging down.

“Could you give us a minute?” Dawn asked Mandy.

The girl nodded and walked out of the room.

Dawn sat down in a chair beside her sister. “Buffy, be honest with me. Are you okay?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m fine?”

“As many times as it takes for me to believe you.”

Buffy sighed, but didn’t respond.

“Is this about Spike?”

“No, this is about me. I’m just nervous. It is my wedding day, after all. Now stop asking.”

Dawn bit back the words that she so badly wanted to say. “Plan B”, she wanted to tell her sister, “is we tell everyone the buildings on fire and then bolt for the car when they’re not looking.” But she knew Buffy would never go for that. She loved Angel and would end up marrying him today whether it was the right thing or not.

“Alright. So,” she said, deciding to change the subject, “do you have your somethings old, new, borrowed, and blue?”

Buffy looked down at herself. The garter she had on was new. She had on a bracelet that had belonged to her mom, one of the only things she gotten out of Sunnydale with, and shoes she’d borrowed from Dawn. She informed her sister of this.

“I guess you’re the something blue then,” she replied.

Buffy gave her sister a disapproving look. “I painted my toenails blue last night.” She’d thought in advance and figured it wouldn’t matter what color her toenails were because her shoes were closed-toed.

Dawn laughed. “Good. Now that we have everything in order, we wait.”
---------------------

Mandy leaned against the door to Buffy’s makeshift dressing room and sighed. Why did she always have to leave the room when people were about to have important conversations? It wasn’t like she was going to go blabbing her mouth all over town. And she might even be able to help. Now given, she and Buffy hadn’t exactly been on speaking terms since she’d gotten back from America. No big surprise there. Anyone would be mad if you’d teleported them across an ocean. But Mandy was beginning to get the feeling that Buffy was upset about something else. Probably this Spike guy.

Mandy remembered Angel’s anger that it had been Spike Buffy had woken up with, and despite a reassurance from even Buffy herself that the spell must not have worked, she still felt that it had and everyone was in denial. And if visiting this guy for a few days had made Buffy so frazzled, maybe this wedding was a bad idea. And she would love to tell them all what she thought, if they would listen.

Five more minutes had ticked by. Angel was going to be late for his own wedding and they all knew it. And despite all of the non-wedding like emotions Buffy seemed to be having, maybe even she would cheer up when Angel got here. Mandy had been there for their reunion when Buffy had returned and they had hugged and kissed like a couple in love, even if the spark didn’t seem as bright as before. Maybe if Angel was here, he could talk to Buffy before the wedding, something he wouldn’t get to do if he was late, and they could discuss some issues before walking down the aisle.

But he wouldn’t get here in time, not without help.

What harm would it do to cast a simple little spell? Yes, maybe Xander had said not to do that. But it wasn’t like she was sending someone across the Atlantic this time. Angel was only maybe five miles away. And sure, he would be mad, but wouldn’t that be overshadowed by the fact that he’d made it and had time to talk to his bride?

With her mind made up, Mandy closed her eyes and chanted the same Latin words as before, only this time changing the ending.

“Bring to me the man who Buffy’s heart most desires.”

A giant billow of smoke appeared in front of her, and she waved her hand in front of her face. Coughing of the male variety was heard from the smoke. At least the spell seemed to have worked. After a moment, the smoke finally cleared and he gave her a strange look.

“Who the bloody hell are you?”

“Crap.”
----------------------

The door to the room, where the two sisters were, opened.

“What the hell was that noise?” Dawn asked waving a hand in front of her face to clear some left over smoke.

Before Mandy could answer, Buffy had appeared in the door.

“What are you doing here?” she asked when she saw the vampire standing there.

“I…uhh….”

“It’s my fault,” Mandy told her. “Again.”

“What did you do?” Buffy demanded.

“If it means anything, I was trying to help.”

Buffy stared at the girl incredulously. “You did another spell? I thought we made it clear that you were on magic probation after your last mishap.”

“You mean the mishap that landed you with him? This is him, right? Spike?” When it was clear that the two women were too shocked to speak, she looked to the vampire, who nodded.

“And now, in a different spell designed to bring Angel here, to bring you what you most desired, I brought Spike here. Coincidence? I think not,” she finished in a huff.

Buffy took a deep breath and tried to get a hold of herself. Why was she even freaking out so bad? Oh right, magic probation.

“It doesn’t matter what you thought you were helping,” Buffy told her, trying to ignore her other words, “you are not supposed to be using magic. I think you need to go.”

“Go where?”

“Talk to Mr. Giles about your punishment.”

Mandy looked at her with her mouth hanging open. “Seriously?” Was this really the most important thing at the moment?

“Yes. Dawn would you please escort her?”

The brunette looked from her sister to Spike and took the words as a hint to get the hell out. She motioned for Mandy to follow her and though she mumbled words of anger on the way out, she followed.

When the door had shut behind them, the slayer turned back to face the slightly confused vampire. ‘He looked good,’ she caught herself thinking. Bad. Bad Buffy.

“I’m sorry. She never learns.”

“So that’s the girl who…”

“Yeah. That’s Mandy.”

Spike could still sense a little anger in her voice and wondered if she was really upset that Mandy had disregarded her punishment or that he was here. “You really shouldn’t be so hard on her, luv. I’m sure she meant well.”

“She always means well, but that doesn’t mean she should just keep popping people around the globe whenever the notion strikes her.”

He had to agree. He felt more than a little jetlagged from the transportation, something that never happened to him in normal circumstances.

“Maybe we should talk about the spell,” he said after a moment. After all, it was now two spells that had brought them together. Two spells about loving and desiring someone. It had to mean something, didn’t it?

“I really don’t have time right now. I’m getting married in half an hour.”

“We may not get another chance.”

Buffy had to admit he was right. They probably wouldn’t. Even if Spike stuck around for the wedding, which she was sure he wouldn’t do, and didn’t want him to, there would be the reception and then leaving for the honeymoon. And he couldn’t just wait around on her to return. He had a life to get back to. Or, actually he didn’t, thanks to her. But still, he would want to go home. They could send emails, but that would be too impersonal, and they could talk on the phone, but that would be very long distance, and also possibly monitored by the government. Wouldn’t want that. So as bad as she didn’t want to, now was the best time they would ever get to talk about this.

“Fine. What do you want to talk about?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“You said that the spell was supposed to send you to the person who loved you most, and it sent you to me. That means something.”

“Maybe…maybe it just means that since we hadn’t seen each other in a long time that what we felt was stronger. Absence right?”

“We?”

“I mean you.” Off his look she added, “I mean, I care about you, Spike. I may have even felt love for you once, but I’m getting married today. To Angel.” The words tasted bad in her mouth.

“Right. So that kiss, it meant nothing to you.”

Why was he bringing that up? “I didn’t say that. Yeah, okay, I felt…something. But whatever that was, it was a mistake.”

“Was it?”

“Yes,” she said as defiantly as she could, though she could feel her chest tightening with the words.

“What about this other spell? Marla said it was supposed to bring Captain Forehead here, but it brought me.”

“Mandy. And I know that. Probably because I felt like we’d left things unresolved. I desired to talk to you, that’s all.”

Spike was getting flustered now. He’d deceived himself into thinking that somehow if they talked about this that she would change her mind about marrying peaches. It was a small and stupid hope, but it was hope none-the-less. And now it seemed that it was a wasted effort.

“Do you even want to get married?”

“What? Of course I do,” she said.

“It just doesn’t seem right to me, pet.”

“Well this isn’t about you, is it?” she said in the hardest tone she could muster.

He took a step closer. “It could be; if you give me a chance.”

She backed off immediately. “I can’t, Spike. I’m getting married. I made my choice. I’m sorry.”

“Right. You made your choice a long time ago.” She opened her mouth to say something but he continued. “When you decided you would never love anyone but him. And you did a real good job with that, too. Pushing people away every chance you got.”

“That’s not fair.”

“No, what’s not fair is that you never gave me a chance. And I know that I wasn’t much back then, but I would have done anything for you. And you knew that. Hell, Slayer, I got my bloody soul back for you. But that didn’t make a damn bit of difference to you. Cause it doesn’t matter what I do, I’ll never be Angel. So, stop worrying about it, go out there, get married, and live happily ever after. It’s what you deserve.” He said the last line much calmer than the rest of the rant had been.

The door to the room opened and the younger Summers entered with Mandy on her heels.

“You’ll be happy to know that I’m now on probation for six months,” she said to Buffy, but when she noticed the look on her face she quickly backed down. “Are you okay?”

“Are we interrupting something?” Dawn asked.

“I’m great. And Spike was just leaving,” Buffy said, her voice icy.

So the talk had not gone so well, Dawn concluded. And from the looks of both the vampire and slayer, it was not the time to ask. “Well, uh, Angel’s here.”

Buffy forced herself to look at Dawn. “Great.”

“And there’s someone who wants to talk to you. A woman. She says she’s a friend of Angel’s.”

“Okay.”

A silence overtook the room that had both Dawn and Mandy shuffling awkwardly. After a moment, “Spike, how are you getting home?”

“I don’t know, Nibblet.”

Dawn smiled at the nickname. It had been years since anyone had called her that.

“I could try and send you back,” Mandy offered.

Spike gave her a look that clearly said that was never going to happen.

“I’ll drive you to the airport,” she said in a disappointed tone. “I don’t really wanna be here anyway.” With Buffy, Dawn, and Giles all upset with her, not to mention Angel, who surely would be when he found out, Mandy didn’t find the idea of sticking around too appealing.

“Much appreciated, pet.”

He turned to follow her to the door, and Buffy knew this was it. And as mad as she was at him, she knew if she let him walk out of the room, she would never see him again. Spike felt a hand on his arm. He turned back to face her and looked down into her eyes. He saw mixed emotions in them and wasn’t sure what she was going to do.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t go,” she wanted to say, but all she could get out was “Be safe.” It was possibly one of the lamest things she could have possibly said.

He raised an eyebrow but only nodded in response. He was getting really tired of goodbyes. Buffy removed her hand from his arm and took a step back. Spike opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it. He gave her a final glance.

And then he was gone.
---------------------

“I’m really sorry about all of this, Spike.”

“S’not your fault, luv.”

They were nearing the airport now. Most of the drive had been in silence and Mandy wasn’t even sure she should say anything now. It wasn’t that he seemed that upset. He wasn’t crying or yelling or anything, but his silence seemed to speak pretty loudly in itself. It was almost like he’d expected it to end the way it had; like he had known she wouldn’t choose him. And somehow that was worse.

“It kinda is. I never should have offered to do that spell. Or…just cast the other one without asking.”

“You were just trying to help.”

“Some help I was. Now everybody’s just miserable.”

He let out a snort. “Not everybody.”

Mandy assumed he was talking about Angel. He was getting what he wanted, after all. And though she had been happy enough for the couple in the past, now she had inadvertently placed herself on Team Spike, and she felt her heart break for him. It wasn’t like she knew him that well, but it was clear that he loved Buffy, apparently more than anyone, and it wasn’t fair that he was going to have to get on a plane and fly back to America without her.

“Well, enough people to count. I should just give up casting spells altogether.”

“Don’t do that.”

“I thought you weren’t a fan of magic.”

“I’m not.” There’s always consequences. Always. “But sometimes it needs to be done.”

“I guess.”

He was staring out the window now. “It’s been several years since I’ve been home,” he remarked.

He looked almost reminiscent and Mandy couldn’t help but wonder about his past life; his human life. ‘He’d probably been a badass,’ she thought. He looked like he might still be one now. Surprisingly, though it was surely mid morning where he’d come from, he was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt and boots. Though, she supposed it couldn’t surprise her too much. He was a vampire. He probably just hadn’t gone to bed yet. They pulled up to the front of the airport where cars were dropping off other flyers. Spike opened the door and started to get out.

“Everything will work out for you,” she said suddenly, causing him to cast a glance in her direction. “I know it will.”

“Thanks pet.” He stepped out onto the sidewalk, again thankful for the overcast skies outside. It wouldn’t do for him to burst into flames on the way home.

“Bye Spike.”

“Bye Mandy.”
--------------------------

Buffy found the woman sitting out behind the church in one of the white wicker chairs that were positioned close to a flower bed. She was staring across the parking lot but not really seeing anything. Buffy instantly recognized her.

“Hello?” she said to the woman.

“Oh hi,” she replied standing up.

This was possibly the last person she had expected to see. “Katie?”

“Buffy.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, there are actually a few reasons I’m here. But before we talk about that, there’s something you should know.” She paused and waited to see if Buffy would say anything. When she didn’t, “My name’s not really Katie. And I’m not from Georgia.” As she said the last part, her southern accent seemed to disappear.

Buffy instantly went on alert. “Then who the hell are you?”

“I’m what you call, an in-between. We’re not demons,” she said, suspecting that was what the Slayer was thinking. “We’re more like angels. We help people.”

“You’re an angel?” Honestly, up until nowish, Buffy hadn’t really even been sure there were such things as angels. She’d never seen one, even when she herself had been in Heaven.

“No. Angels don’t usually show there faces down here.”

“I don’t…”

“We come to those who have faced a great loss or those who need guidance. We give them what they need, stay with them through the bad, and leave when they no longer need us. We aid those who have proven themselves to be valuable members of society; those who have done something great. Such as saving the world.”

“And you were helping Spike by pretending to date him?” Buffy asked incredulously.

“Oh, I wasn’t pretending to date him, or like him. That wasn’t hard to do. But our meeting was no accident.”

“Why did you break his heart then?” she said as forcefully and convincingly as she could.

“We both know I didn’t break his heart. I first introduced myself to Spike because he was lonely and lost; he didn’t know what to do anymore. He was looking for something…and I think he found it. So he doesn’t need me anymore.”

Buffy looked hard at Katie…or uhh…whoever. This was a lot to process. As it turned out, she wasn’t a sweet innocent little country bumpkin who enjoyed the company of the undead. Instead she was some sort of angel-esk creature who was simply working a job. Two things angered Buffy about this. First, the girl had deceived Spike. And even if she was telling the truth, about only being there till he didn’t need her, which by the way would complicate things even worse since the obvious implication was that Buffy was the reason for the whole not needing bit, it still did not make up for the fact that she had lied and tricked him into almost loving her. And second, Buffy had saved the world plenty of times and didn’t recall ever receiving extra help of any kind.

As if she could read her mind, “You may think that we don’t notice; all of the things you do for this world. We do. And you have not gone unrewarded. I’m not saying that every good thing that happens to you is because of us, but we have helped you, Ms. Summers.”

“So, you’re saying I’ve met…something like you before?” Buffy wasn’t sure whether she liked this idea or not. On the one hand, it seemed that someone did care that she was sacrificing a lot to save the ever failing world, but on the other, someone, or something, had been interfering with her life for God only knew how long.

“Yes. One of us has never been sent directly to you, but once to someone you know. You do remember Kennedy, don’t you?”

“Willow’s ex? But she was a slayer.”

“No, she was one of us. We can be strong when we need to be. It’s easier than you would think to pass as a potential slayer.”

“But we never knew…”

“We don’t usually reveal ourselves.”

“Then why now? Why are you telling me all of this?”

She smiled. “Because you are special. I had only heard stories about you until now, and it turns out they were all true. You are something different, Buffy. And you will do more great things in your life. But…that is not the only reason I am telling you. Another is that I have become more invested than I should have in your situation.”

“My situation?” she asked confused.

“The one where you are marrying the wrong man.”

Buffy’s mouth fell open. Tactfulness was clearly not in the girl’s dictionary.

“It’s so strange. I mean, we made the vampire human because we thought that would make you happy. And it seemed to. Until now. You can imagine my surprise when I saw you in Spike’s apartment that day. After only spending a small amount of time with you, I realized there was something there. So I played the part of the jealous girlfriend just to see what would happen. It didn’t take long either. I saw you kissing.”

Though she wanted to be angry at the girl for being so deceptive, Buffy thought she could still feel red slipping into her cheeks. So they hadn’t been as sneaky as they thought. And wait, hadn’t she just said they had made Angel human? It did make sense. He had said he was surprised since he had signed all chances away in an attempt to defeat some lawyers or something. The Slayer started to wonder how much in her life had been affected by these in-betweens.

“And now I am sure that we made a mistake. So I am here to help correct it. I believe that it is Spike who will make you happy.”

Buffy had been a little lost in her own thoughts. “What?”

“But unfortunately, it is not up to me to decide anything. You must do that on your own. I’m simply here to deliver a message, which is this: if you decide that Spike is who you want, we can do for him what we did for the other. If instead you decide to wed Angel today, then you will not hear from me again.” Before Buffy could speak, she continued. “And you mustn’t worry about whoever you do not choose. I can always return to Spike.” She smiled slightly, clearly finding the idea enjoyable. “And we already have someone planted in Angel’s life, ready to take charge if need be. She was originally assigned to help ensure your wedding went off without a hitch and to see to it that you two have a very nice home to move to. We have her posing as a real-estate agent for now. But as I said before, that can change.”

The Slayer opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she realized that she didn’t know what to say. The girl was offering her a choice, a way out, if she wanted one. And with a promise that no matter which guy she chose, the other would be happyish. That was good right? But…what did she want? It was something she had been mulling over in her brain ever since she’d gotten on the airplane in Atlanta.

“There is one more thing,” “Katie” said. “You left this.” She handed Buffy a small plastic bag. “We’ll see each other,” she said before vanishing into thin air.

Buffy looked down at the bag and then back to the spot where the woman had just been. She felt like she had just experienced an overload of information from a creature she never even knew existed. And of course it was definitely possible that the woman…or whatever she was…had been lying. It could all be some plot to destroy her by confusing her to death. But for some reason, she honestly believed everything she’d heard. She opened the small bag and pulled out its contents. It was a white t-shirt with a simple gold circle in the middle with the words Hard Rock Café, Atlanta, GA printed on it.

“Katie” had said that if she chose Spike, they could do the same thing for him as they had done for Angel. They could make him human. Buffy didn’t know if Spike desired to be human or not, but it wouldn’t be a far stretch. He was the most human vampire she’d ever met; he ate people food, watched people movies and even had a people job. She also thought she recalled as a distant memory a story of Spike fighting Angel for the Shanshu. So maybe he did want it. But…did she?

In her mind, Buffy suddenly found herself back on the plane, sitting next to the young woman who was doing her best to give good advice.

“Well, ask yourself this. What is it that you really want? And I’m talking about you. Don’t worry about anyone else and what they might want. Worry about you.”

“I don’t know what I want. That’s kind of the problem. I just know that I have to go home. I’ve been gone for a few days and everybody’s worried about me. Plus I only have this one outfit and no money.”

“So go home, and if you want to get married in two weeks, then do it.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I think you know what you have to do.”

And she did. She knew what she had to do.
----------------------------

Buffy’s hands were shaking as she reached for the doorknob of the room where Angel and his groomsmen were getting dressed. They had decided to have a small wedding party with only two bridesmaids and groomsmen. Buffy had, of course, chosen Dawn and Willow, whilst Angel had chosen Steve, another of the watchers and one of the only friends he had made at the counsel, and a reluctant Xander, who only agreed for Buffy’s sake. It was at that time that Angel had confessed to missing Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne. The last of which, despite not being dead, had been unreachable.

The knob turned under her hand and Buffy held her breath. This was going to surely be one of the hardest things that she had ever had to do. She entered the room to see Angel standing facing a mirror, presumably trying to tie his tie correctly, while Xander and Steve sat on the couch on one side of the room laughing about something. When they noticed her standing there, Xander jumped to his feet and came to hug her.

“Hey Buff, sorry we were late. It wasn’t my fault. I told him we should have left earlier.”

Angel growled slightly but Xander only laughed.

“Buffy, what are you doing in here?” Steve asked, coming to stand beside Xander. “You know it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.”

“I know I just…Angel, I really need to talk to you.” She looked at her fiancé, who had finally gotten his tie on, though crooked, and then at the other two men. “Alone.”

They seemed to get the hint as they both headed for the door. Xander turned around and gave her a concerned look, but didn’t say anything else. Once they were gone, Buffy turned to Angel, who was now standing right in front of her, and took his hands.

“Buffy, what’s wrong?” he asked concerned. She looked upset and nervous, neither of which were ever good emotions to see on her face.

“There’s just something I need to say.”

“Then say it.”

She paused only briefly, knowing that if she thought about it too much she might not be able to say it. “I can’t marry you.”

She was surprised when instead of looking shocked he looked…like he knew it was coming. It wasn’t quite sad or totally pissed; kind of somewhere in between.

“Is this because of Spike?” He would kill the vampire if he’d somehow brainwashed his fiancé into leaving him. It was just like him to show up and ruin everything. ‘Payback,’ his brain shouted at him.

“No,” she said. “It’s because of me. I really thought this was what I wanted. But…” She paused, collecting her thoughts. “I just feel like there’s something missing. And I’ve felt that way for a while now. I was just so caught up in planning the wedding that I didn’t really have time to sit and think about how I felt.”

“And this has nothing to do with Spike?” he asked, anger rising slightly.

“Angel, this isn’t about him. It’s about us. We’re not the same as we used to be. We want different things. I love my job at the counsel and I like living close. And sure, maybe I’ll want kids someday, but not now.”

“That doesn’t matter, Buffy. I don’t care if we move or get new jobs or have kids. I just want to be with you.”

“Well I…” she stopped herself before she could finish the sentence.

Angel dropped her hands and started to turn away. He didn’t want to hear her say that he wasn’t enough for her anymore. It had been a fear of his since he’d become human. It had stopped bothering him so much that he couldn’t protect her from things that went bump in the night, but knowing that he wasn’t strong in other ways worried him. He was more breakable now and never wanted her to think of him as fragile or weak.

“Wait. Please.”

He stopped.

“There’s something that should be there, but it’s not. And I have to believe that you feel that, too. That you know in your heart that this,” she said, gesturing around. “Isn’t right.”

And he knew she was right. The last few months had proved that to be true, even before the spell from hell, things had been different between them. As the wedding day had drawn closer, he would catch himself thinking maybe they should wait; make sure this was what she really wanted; because it was all about her. But now that she was making part of it about him, he couldn’t be that upset that she didn’t want to marry him because he wasn’t sure he wanted to marry her either. He had asked her because it had been the plan. Once he became human he would find her and they would be together for the rest of their lives. But he hadn’t stopped to think that maybe neither of them truly wanted that anymore, but just thought they did. And if he was honest, a part of him longed for another woman; one that he wished was still around.

“I will always love you,” Buffy told him. “But…”

“It’s over,” he finished for her.

“I think it is.”

“And this isn’t a little bit about Spike?” Angel couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Maybe a little bit.”

“He can’t give you a normal life.”

“I don’t think my normal is the same as other people’s.”

“No, I guess it isn’t.”

They stood there in awkward silence for a few moments before Angel spoke. “I should probably tell all those people to leave then.”

Whether he didn’t really want to get married or not, he still wanted her, and he didn’t want to wait around to see her head off with Spike. And as he made his way out of the room, he couldn’t help but wonder how this had happened? How had Spike ended up with the girl? What had happened to the world?

“Angel.”

He looked at her, the beautiful, strong woman that had changed his life.

“We’ll be alright.”

Without each other, he knew she had meant, though the words had not been spoken. He nodded in agreement. Yeah, he supposed they would.

Buffy let out a sigh of relief when she was alone. She felt a slight ache in her chest, of course, but also like a weight had been lifted. This time she had given him no hope. She hadn’t said maybe someday. She had said it’s over. It was scary, in a way, not to have that safety net anymore. But maybe that was what she needed. To be her own safety net.

But this safety net had something to do. All of this had almost made her forget about the man that had set this result into action. Spike. The man who loved her most in this world. A man that she was now 100 percent positive that she loved back. Buffy exited the room and headed back towards the room she had been in. She had almost reached the door when she saw Mandy coming around the corner.

“Where’s Spike?” she asked the girl.

“At the airport where I left him.”

“Shit.”

“What? What did I do now? I was supposed to take him there, right?”

“No…yes…I mean…I really need to talk to him.”

“Haven’t you already said enough?” Mandy asked, more harshly than intended. It was just that Spike had really grown on her in the few minutes they had been in the car together.

“I did say a lot. But none of it is what I should have said.”

“Which is?”

“That I was wrong. That I don’t really want to get married. And that I love him.”

Mandy couldn’t help but looked shocked, and quite pleased at the same time, by the answer. “You…you love him?”

“Yeah I do,” Buffy said smiling. It was good to finally say it out loud.

“Well, that’s great and all,” came Dawn’s voice from behind them, “But you’d better hurry if you want to catch him. His flight leaves in less than an hour.”

“Dawn? You heard all that, huh?”

The younger Summers nodded. “And I think it’s awesome,” she said seriously. “I always wanted you two to be together. I’m only sad that I didn’t get to use my escape plan.”

The two sisters shared a smile.

“Didn’t you say something about a flight leaving?” Mandy asked.

“Oh yeah. Giles called the airport. He took care of Spike’s passport problem. Apparently, he knows a guy. And since Spike’s technically a citizen of the U.K., he was able to get one really quickly.”

“So he’s got a passport?”

“And a ticket. The plane leaves at 3:30.”

“What time is it now?” Buffy asked her sister.

“2:41.”
----------------------

The traffic had been worse than usual. Or at least, it really seemed that way. But everything seems worse when you’re in a hurry. She was quickly running out of time and was almost sure she would never make it. She silently wished the people who worked for the airline would go on strike or something and refuse to fly the plane. It was close to 3:20 when Buffy finally pulled her car into a space at the Heathrow International Airport. Ten minutes until the plane would be leaving. He would be on it by now, surely. Or maybe not. Maybe this would turn out like the movies and he would be waiting for the final boarding call, which would be anytime now. She would have to run; fast.

As Buffy exited the car, she began to move as quickly as possible towards the stairs. The elevator would be too slow. She thanked the gods that she had opted to change clothes. It had been the fastest change in history, taking her only two minutes to get out of a wedding dress and heels and into a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and tennis shoes. One minute ticked by as she made her way down the stairs and another as she dodged other cars, running into the airport. She realized once she was inside that she had no idea what gate he would be at. She was only slightly familiar with the airport having flown through it a handful of times. Surprisingly, her flight back from Atlanta had been her first flight since settling into the watcher’s council.

She ran up to the ticket counter nearest the door. “Excuse me, where can I find the British Air flight to Atlanta?”

The woman looked slightly annoyed, probably because she’d passed a lengthy line of people who were now complaining loudly.

“I’m sorry, miss. You’ll have to get in the back of the line.”

“You don’t understand. I don’t have time to wait in line. The flight is leaving in a few minutes.”

“Miss, I’m going to have to ask you to wait in line.”

Buffy found herself getting irritated. “I just need to know which gate,” she snapped. She was running out of time. She had to stop him. He had to know the truth.

The woman sighed and then looked at her computer. “Gate C,” she said.

“Thank you.”

The woman let a small smile show on her face, as if she knew what Buffy was doing. The slayer turned and ran through the throngs of people making their way through the airport. When she reached the security area she stopped. A sense of déjà vu washed over her. She thought about her conversation with Spike at the Atlanta airport. He had asked her not to get on the plane. And she almost hadn’t. But, she realized now, she’d needed to get on that plane. She’d needed to come back home not only for her job, but so she had a chance to work through her feelings instead of running away from them. She still loved Angel and always would. But he wasn’t the one she wanted to be with anymore and she’d needed to have that conversation with him. She’d only wished now that she’d gotten the stones to do it before they were both dressed in formal wear.

Buffy neared the security checkpoint and was stopped by a man sitting at a little podium.

“Ticket and passport please,” he said.

“I don’t have a ticket. But I really need to get through here because there’s someone…”

“I’m sorry, miss. I can’t let you through without a ticket.”

“But I…”

He held up his hand. “No ticket, no entry.”

Buffy did her best to glare at him, which was more difficult in her rushed state. She had to think of something; convince this very unfriendly looking man to let her by. But she didn’t have time to be charming, not that this guy looked like he could be charmed. So she did the first thing she thought of. She drew back her fist and punched him in the face. He fell back out of his chair and she took off running past him. She pushed past the people waiting to go through the gate and ran through the metal detectors, shoving the two guards standing there easily to the side. And then she really started to move.

When she finally reached the gate where British Air planes were located, she saw a sign indicating which was bound for the U.S. But as she stopped in front of the gate, the plane began to move backwards. She hadn’t made it in time. Now he was gone; again. It wasn’t the end of the world, she reminded herself. She could always buy a ticket and fly to Atlanta. But she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointment. She’d been all gung-ho about telling him how she felt and now she’d have to wait longer. Possibly even longer than the couple of hours till the next flight and the twelve hours it would take to fly there if the security guards figured out where she’d gone.

“Buffy?”

She turned at the sound of that voice. “Spike.”

He was standing a few feet away looking more than a little confused. “What are you doing here?” he wondered. The last time he’d seen her, it seemed like she wanted nothing more than for him to be out of her life, and now here she was. Shouldn’t she be getting married right about now?

“I came to stop you,” she replied. “But…I thought I was too late. Wasn’t that your plane?” She had been sure she was at the right place.

“Yeah, I didn’t make it. I had some problems with my ticket.”

Buffy couldn’t help but wonder if his missing the flight was lucky or whether Katie and her people had something to do with it.

“What did you need?” he asked as cool as he could manage.

“I… I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I said. And you were right. I didn’t want to get married.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“I thought that I did; that I was doing the right thing. But…I’ve spent so much time trying to plan a life that I haven’t stopped to think about what’s right for me. I love what I do, helping all those girls, but there’s also that part of me that needs to get out and kill things. The night we patrolled was the first time I’ve felt like myself in a while. And spending time with you made me realize how much I miss my old life. Not everything about it. I don’t miss all of the apocalypses and dying and something always wanting me dead. I guess what I really miss is…you. It just took a spell sending me half way across the world to make me realize it.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that…” She took a deep breath. “I’m saying that I’m in love with you.”

For the life of him, Spike couldn’t think of anything to say. It was one of those moments in life, the kind that you wait for but don’t ever actually expect to happen. Yeah, he thought he’d been right about her not wanting to get married, and he’d even thought that she still had feelings for him, but not that she really and truly loved him. And he couldn’t help but wonder if she was telling the truth. But the look on her face told him everything that he needed to know. She wasn’t lying.

When it didn’t seem like he was going to say anything, Buffy continued. “I know that we haven’t seen each other in a while. At least, not before a few weeks ago. But the way you make me feel…and we never gave us a real shot, which I know was mostly my fault. And I think…I know I’m ready to be with you now.” There she had said it; everything that she had come here to say. She felt as if another weight had been lifted; however, Spike had still not said anything.

He was busy running all of this through his mind. It was what he’d wanted for some time now and he still almost couldn’t believe this was even happening. But being with her, it would be selfish of him. She deserved better than what he could give her. After all, he was still a vampire. “I can’t,” he managed at last. “You should be with Peaches. He’s human. He can give you a life with a few rugrats.”

Buffy couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d punched her in the face and said I hate you. She’d never really thought of Spike as much of the sacrificial type; in the sense that when offered something he wanted he would always take it without question. And she was sure that he wanted her. “But what if I don’t need those things? I mean, I already have a family. I’m not sure that I even want kids. I killed my goldfish.” She also resisted the urge to tell him that the powers that be could make him human if they both so desired. That would involve explaining about Katie and she wasn’t sure she wanted to do that anytime soon.

Spike seemed to contemplate what she had just said. She claimed that maybe she didn’t want normal; something he had suspected about her for a long time. But what if that changed? She wasn’t sure if she wanted kids, but maybe someday she would and he could never give her that. She seemed resolute though and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up this smokescreen. He wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and kiss the life out of her. Deciding the best option was to give Buffy what she wanted instead of arguing with her, he took a step forward.

“I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you dancing in the Bronze,” he said. “Even though I didn’t know it back then.” He recalled one of the many times Dru had tried to tell him he had feelings for Buffy.

“You’re covered with her. I look at you and all I see is the slayer,” she had said.

Then he had thought her to be on one of her wacko trips she took to never never land sometimes. But now he realized that she had just seen what he’d been too blind to.

“I hoped one day you would feel the same.”

“I do,” she said, pleased with his answer.

“So what does this mean?” he asked, still unsure of her plan for the future.

“It means,” she said taking a step closer and kissing him lightly on the lips. “…that you’re going to have to get used to cooking breakfast everyday.”

“You know we’re not gonna be some cheerful couple with a dog and a white picket fence.”

Buffy smiled slightly. “Never was one for picket fences anyway. They’re bloody dangerous.”

Spike laughed lightly. “That they are, luv.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck then and kissed him with all she had. Spike responded to her almost immediately, wrapping his own arms around her back and pulling her closer. They held onto each other for several minutes, neither willing to let go.

The sound of coughing got their attention and they reluctantly broke away from the kiss. An airport security guard was standing there with a baton in his hand. And beside him was the man who’d been seated at the little podium.

“Yes?” Spike asked, rather irritated.

The guard directed his attention to Buffy. “You assaulted a police official, miss.”

“You assaulted him?” Spike asked with an amused smile.

She shrugged. “He was in my way.”

“I’m going to have to insist that you exit the area.”

“I was just leaving,” she told him. “And sorry…about your face,” she told the other man.

“We should be placing you under arrest.”

Buffy tried to smile innocently.

“But you didn’t seem to have any metal on you since you didn’t set the detectors off. And Robert here is the forgiving type.”

‘Could have fooled me,’ Buffy thought to herself. She could really only thank her lucky stars that she wasn’t being hauled off to British jail right about now. Out of the corner of her eye Buffy could have sworn she saw a familiar looking woman smiling at her. She said a silent thanks to her…guardian angels? She and Spike hurried past the guard and made their way back to the main lobby where all of the ticket counters were positioned side by side.

“So what now?” Spike asked as they neared the sliding doors that led back to the parking area.

“Now…I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter what we do. Because in the end, the only thing that really matters is doing what feels right. Going after what you really want. And you are what I want,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “And right now, that’s all I need.”

“It’s so good to hear you say that.”

Buffy smiled at him. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he replied before kissing her.
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THE END