The shrill ring of the phone startled her as she rinsed off the breakfast dishes. Pulling the receiver off the wall, Buffy uttered a quick: “Hello?”

“Buffy? Thank God, you’re alright!” An obviously worried Giles let out a sigh of relief.

“Of course I’m OK, Giles. Is something the matter? Why shouldn’t I be OK?”

The Slayer was getting nervous; her watcher wasn’t one to flip out over any small issue. She tried to imagine what kind of beastie had reared its ugly head this time, to make him nervous enough to call her in the middle of the day. “Please don’t tell me there’s another apocalypse.”

“No, there’s no apocalypse. Not that I know of, anyway. I was just worried because you didn’t call yesterday and, well, with Spike at your house...” He didn’t need to finish his sentence--Buffy knew where her Watcher’s thoughts led.

Buffy snickered to herself, knowing full well how little danger she was in. “Giles, I’m sorry I didn’t call. You did say that I should call if I had a problem, which I didn’t. Anyway, between doing my chores and taking care of a whiny vampire, I simply didn’t think of it.”

“How is Spike, anyway? Is he still ill?”

Buffy knew that Giles’ interest in the whole situation was piqued. The next time they met, he would pull out his journal and play twenty questions with both her and Spike. She looked out the window and watched the vampire lean against the porch railing. “He’s fine. I gave him some Neo-Citran last night and he woke up 100% okay this morning. Yesterday morning, though--he was in horrible shape: throwing up, sweating. It was really gross.”

“Neo-Citran? And it really worked? Intriguing. I’ll have to ask you about that...”

She could hear the gears working in the Watcher’s brain. “Yes, I’m sure you’ll have lots of questions to ask on Tuesday. Don’t worry, I’ll spill the beans. You’ll be able to show that stupid Council up; betcha they don’t have any detailed records of sick vampires. Anyway, Giles--thanks for the call, but I really have to go. I’m in the middle of doing the dishes right now *I’ve got to go and talk to my vampire lover* so I can’t stay on the phone.”

“Alright, Buffy. Do be careful, though. Don’t let your guard down--Spike may seem harmless when he’s sick, but he has tried to kill you in the past. He’s still a formidable opponent...”

“Don’t worry, Giles. I’m keeping an eye on him. I’ll see you at the meeting, then.”

“Good-bye, Buffy.”

“Bye-bye.” Click.

Buffy rested her forehead against the phone. She had no idea how she was going to break her new relationship to Giles. He wouldn’t understand her feelings for the vampire, and would clearly doubt Spike’s affections for her. She couldn’t hide this from him at all; not after what had happened with Angel. He would take any secrecy about a new relationship as a personal affront. No, she had to be forthright and honest for there to be any positive outcome. Guess this fit into the ‘responsible’ Buffy category as well...

The young blonde walked out onto the porch and turned to see Spike sitting on the swing, cigarette in hand. He seemed to be deep in thought. She looked at the sky and noticed that the clouds were menacing.

“Looks like we’re going to be getting that rain they were mentioning,” she offered, as she sat down beside him.

The vampire jumped a little, not having noticed her company. He still held his gaze out ahead of him. “Yeah, I can feel it.”

The young woman looked at him with a wry smile on her face. “You can feel it?”

He shifted. “The demon can, pet. Kind of like when animals go all wonky before storms. Hasn’t your watcher taught you anything ’bout us vamps?”

“He tries, but I guess I wasn’t paying attention. Does that mean that you’ll start running around the house like my old cat Mittens used to do?”

Spike turned to her, eyebrows raised. “You’re not serious, are you?” When he saw the laughter in her eyes, he laughed out loud. “Had me goin’ there for a second, luv. Thought you were going blonde on me.” He exhaled, sat back, and started playing with a stray lock of her hair. “Sunshine--that’s what your hair is like, you know that? All soft, and golden...”

Buffy sighed. “Giles called. He wanted to make sure that I was still alive--asked how you were doing, too.” She paused, and Spike snickered at the Watcher‘s misplaced concern. “It made me think about us again. I’ve given it some more thought.”

The vamp cringed inwardly. *Here it comes: “It’s been nice and all, but it won’t work out. Now bugger off.” I can’t believe I had any hope.*

“Spike?”

“I’m listening, love.”

“Just checking--looked like I lost you there, for a sec. I’ve decided that I’m ready to face the gang and tell them about us.”

Spike’s jaw slackened. “You’d do that for me? For us?”

She leaned back against him, staring at that same spot in the distance on which he had been fixated when she joined him. “I’m tired of doing what others tell me I should do, and acting how they think I should act. You know, I think I’d enjoy my life a whole lot more if I made my own choices. If that includes being with you, then... so be it. Giles will have a conniption, Xander will go into denial, but the others will be happy for me... for us, I mean.” She put her hand on his lap.

The vampire covered her hand with his own, and looked at her. “Buffy, if you’re comfortable with a more public ’us’, than so am I. Hell, I’ll scream it in the streets if you want me to. If any demon or vamp has a problem with my woman they can discuss it with my fist.”

The Slayer laughed at his declaration. “You know, Spike, I like you because behind all the attitude and the bleach, you’re still old-fashioned.”

“Romance is timeless, love.” He got up and stretched. “’Bout time I made my way back to the crypt. It’s dark enough that I can make my way to the sewers without goin’ all Fourth of July.” He held his hand out to her and helped her out of the swing.

They walked into the house and Buffy got the duster out of the hall closet. Spike shrugged it on and leaned in to give his Slayer a chaste kiss on the lips. As he made his way down the porch steps, Buffy called out to him.

“Spike! Uh, we’re having a Scooby meeting on Tuesday night. Maybe you want to join us...”

He didn’t turn around, but offered her a “Maybe, Slayer.” Which she knew was as close to a yes as she’d get from him.

Buffy closed the front door and made her way up the stairs. She had to remove all those candles out of Dawn’s room before she came back home....

As he made his way to the tunnels, Spike couldn’t believe how quickly he’d let himself fall for the Slayer. *Bloody hell--now you’re joining the Scooby kids on your own. Bad enough when you were tied to the Watcher’s tub...*

Author’s note: Just one chapter left to go, kiddies! Please keep reviewing! It always gives me a happy :)