One Year Later
The day before Willow and Oz’s wedding, Buffy and Spike left the rehearsal dinner and went to Spike’s apartment, anxious to relax after a stressful day of helping their friends with last-minute wedding details.
Buffy immediately walked to his couch and sat down, sighing with relief that they were free from having to help more for the day, simply wanting to spend time alone together without having to deal with the burdens of being the maid of honor for her friend.
“Want a drink, luv?” Spike asked, heading to his kitchen when he saw her nod vigorously. “Just think- by Sunday, you won’t be nearly as stressed anymore.”
“Yes, but then we have Xander and Anya’s wedding in a couple of months,” she replied, looking down at her hands, folded in her lap.
Spike noticed how sad she suddenly seemed and frowned, grabbing a beer bottle for her and walking to the couch, sitting down beside her. She gave him a small smile when he took off the bottle cap for her before handing her the bottle.
“What’s got you so down?” he asked curiously, running his hand over her hair.
“I’m just so tired,” she replied, looking at him. “Between running around this week to do errands for Willow, slaving at Joyce’s to finish her wedding cake, and helping out at the restaurant, I think I’ve had about as much as I can take.” She took a sip of her beer and shrugged. “I guess I just need a break.”
“Well, maybe we can go on a vacation soon,” he replied. “We both could use one.”
“Yeah, we could,” she agreed. “Our own private getaway.”
“Where would you like to go?” he asked. “Any particular place you fancy?”
“I’ve always wanted to go to New York,” she said in a hopeful tone.
“Been there, done that,” he said, smirking when she pouted. “How about somewhere more romantic?”
“You want to go somewhere romantic?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Maybe Paris… or London.”
“Take me to England,” she said, smiling. “I’d love to see where you grew up.”
“I’d love to show you,” he replied, putting his hand on hers after leaning over to kiss her. “Maybe you will like it so much that you’ll want to move there.”
“All by myself?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at him as he chuckled.
“Don’t think I want you alone in that city,” he said. “Foreign men always like American girls.”
“That’s because we’re wild,” she replied, yawning and smirking when he nodded, laughing.
“Yeah, you’re as wild as a goldfish,” he joked, not surprised when she slapped his arm.
“You know that’s not true,” she said. “Do you not remember what happened in the kitchen at the restaurant last year?”
“Last year?” he asked, grinning. “Or the other night?”
“That wasn’t my fault,” she replied, crossing her arms. “You’re the one who seduced me, pal.”
“Not like you were complaining about it,” he said. “You loved every minute of it.”
“Always do,” she said, stretching out on the couch, resting her feet on his lap. “Spike, I’m hungry.”
“We just ate, Goldilocks,” he replied, quirking an eyebrow.
“Yeah, but I want dessert,” she said, yawning again. “Do you still have some of that chocolate cake I made, or did you finish it?”
“I saved one slice, just for you,” he said, standing up and going back to the kitchen to get it.
“Aww, you’re such a prince,” she replied, watching him walk away.
“Not a prince,” he said, loud enough for her to hear him. “Just whipped.”
“So true,” she said, smiling. “You should be happy we’re talking metaphorically about being whipped, honey.”
“That I am,” he said, opening his refrigerator and taking out the leftover cake, putting it on a plate and shielding it from her view with his body, reaching into his pocket to extract something that had been bothering him ever since he left his apartment earlier that day. “Doesn’t change the fact you’re still kinky, kitten.”
“Not half as bad as you,” she replied. “I think you may have the whole Kama Sutra memorized.”
“It’s entirely possible,” he said, leaving the kitchen, the plate in his hand. He watched as she sat upright, not looking at him, before he came to kneel down in front of her, holding the plate out to her.
“What’re you-” she began, cutting herself off when she saw the platinum engagement ring seated in the center, on top of a layer of chocolate frosting. “Spike?”
“Buffy,” he said quietly, studying her eyes, his heart beating even quicker when he didn’t see any change in them. “I love you, and I know that that will never change. I want to spend the rest of my life with you- here, in London, wherever- and there’s no one I would rather be with than you.” He took a steadying breath to calm down his nerves. “Will you marry me?”
“No,” she said after a very long pause, her eyes never straying from the ring.
“No?” he asked, feeling as if all of the air in his body had escaped him.
“No,” she affirmed, shaking her head and looking at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “You don’t get to propose like this! I like chocolate, but I don’t want my ring covered in it.” He raised an eyebrow as she gingerly took the ring off of the slice of cake and studied it. “I think there’s chocolate under the diamond, between the settings. I’m going to have to clean this off now.”
“Buffy?” he asked, not knowing how to react. “Are you saying yes or no, pet?”
“Do you really think I’d say no?” she asked, grinning at him as she licked off some of the chocolate on her ring, surprised when he put the plate down and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her, relieved that she had said yes. “I cannot believe you just proposed.”
“I’ve been waiting to for weeks,” he said, shrugging. “Lorne and Andrew convinced me that it’s due time.” She smiled and handed him the ring. “Want me to go wash this off?”
“Put it on me,” she said, grinning. “We can clean it off later.”
“Oh, I think we’ll be quite busy later,” he replied, taking her left hand in his and sliding the ring onto her ring finger before bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it. “Think you can wear that forever?”
“Yes,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him. “After we get it cleaned.”
“That can come later,” he said, taking her hands in his and standing up, wiggling his eyebrows. “But I was thinking maybe we could come first.”
“You are such a dirty man,” she replied, giggling when he picked her up and carried her towards his bedroom.
“Yeah, but that’s one of the things you love about me,” he said, smirking.
“Spike, when we get married, do we have to rename the restaurant again?” she asked curiously, surprised when he looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Is that really what’s on your mind right now?” he asked, entering his room and laying her down on the bed. When she nodded, he sighed and shrugged. “No, it can stay the way it is. Was part of the deal, after all, and I don’t want people to think I have commitment issues, changing the name on a constant basis.”
“You better not have commitment issues,” she joked, looking at her engagement ring. “Otherwise this is coming off a lot earlier than we planned.”
“Not going to leave you or ever stop loving you,” he said, laying down beside her and kissing her softly. “Is that alright with you?”
“I think I can handle that,” she answered quietly, resting her head on his chest and smiling contently.
The End
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I know I said there were a few more chapters left, but I realized the other night that Chapter 17 would've been a fairly good ending point for the story. That being said, I opted to write an epilogue, which is below. I'm sorry if the quick ending of the fic bothers anyone, but really, the characters evolved into what I wanted them to, everyone is happy, and throwing in angst suddenly to add to the story would just be prolonging it, which isn't necessary. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed- your continued support and enjoyment mean a lot! I hope you enjoy the epilogue:)