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**Definition taken from the Random House Dictionary.

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**give: to present voluntarily

A month had passed and surprisingly the men living in Harris' apartment were still alive and well, no broken bones, no open wounds, gashes or bruises found on either one of them. Happily, Spike had joined the land of the sane, his inner turmoil lessened to a comfortable level.

Xander still teased him daily about brooding, which helped him kick the habit quickly and every once in a while had a good comeback for the whelp. Xander would never admit he did it on purpose just so Spike would become somewhat more human and likeable and neither one of them would admit they had bonded as much as a human and a vampire could over the past month. Each of them could tolerate the other without maiming, mayhem or murder coming into play.

Buffy visited regularly like she had promised. Spike got to see Dawn as well which always made him happy. Willow would come for visits and she always told Xander it was to see him so he wouldn't feel hurt and dejected, but she spent time with Spike as well. They built a strong friendship too, helping each other overcome past wrongs and evil-doings. Spike, for the first in a long time, felt he belonged somewhere. Everyone was treating him nicely, and he was very afraid. He was scared of letting them down; afraid he would slip up, give up and let his demon take over. That was the easy way out and he was too strong to ever let that happen. But he still had to remind himself day in and day out of how much he would lose if he gave up to go evil…and it worked.

Dawn and Willow both encouraged him to start pursuing Buffy again. They secretly told him how much Buffy raved about his accomplishments, and she seemed happier. She smiled whenever she talked about him. However, with Spike knowing this, it turned him into a total spineless wuss. Unfortunately, William's basic nature took over his whole body whenever Buffy was around. He would act shy and reserved, not wanting to push it too far. To top it all off, he began to stutter whenever he needed to respond to any of her questions. When he did finally talk, usually he said something ignorant and meaningless, in which case he would end up rolling his eyes and mentally kicking himself. Xander picked up on all of it. Buffy was stupefied, didn't really know what had come over him. She just presumed it was the soul.

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"Harris," Spike yelled from the dining room. "It's only a measly 10 feet from the table to the kitchen sink. Do you think you can use your two hands and two feet to carry your dirty dishes into the kitchen and place them in the sink?"

Xander had snuck in behind Spike as he was yelling, just about to place the dirty dishes in said sink. "You don't have to yell."

The dishes were dropped in as Spike hunched his shoulders over and grabbed the edge of the counter, seething. "Bloody hell!"

Xander slapped him on the back. "Losing your delicate vampire senses, old man?"

"Only when you're around, you twit. Been around you too much, you make me lose all sense of everything."

Xander chuckled. "Hey, grab a couple of brewskies, I'll grab some munchies. Football's on in 10."

The fellas planned on spending Sunday afternoon watching the big game. Xander thought it was a good way to talk to Spike about relationships and Buffy. At least he and Anya were on a better conversational place; Spike was a babbling, bumbling idiot anytime Buffy was in close proximity.

"So, what's going on with you and the Buffster?"

Spike turned his head slowly to stare at Xander. "What do you mean? There's nothing…"

"Yeah, I know. I mean, I thought you were in love with her at one time. What happened?"

"I do…I mean I am…bloody hell, it's none of your business, Harris."

"I know that, but it just seems that if you are interested in her you would be trying to do more than duck and look away, or stumble over your words whenever she talks to you. Kinda pathetic act. I mean never would have pegged you to be the shy one what with all you've done in the past and how long you've been around. You would think you've had plenty of experience with women, at least over a hundred or more years of it."

"Actually, no, not really. Before I was turned I never was with anyone. Can't believe I'm telling you this. I was with Dru for over 100 years. Harmony was just a bint I could barely tolerate, just a quick fix, if you know what I mean. And then there was Buffy. Believe me I would never go into detail about what we had especially with you. Don't want to go there again."

"Please, don't. Don't want to know a thing. But I do know your feelings for her are real. I can see it now. I see how you treat her. But you're not going to get anywhere with her if you don't start acting like a man. Or well, a, well whatever."

"Hello, is this Xander Harris talking about me and Buffy in the same breath? And, yeah, you have room to talk. What about your manliness? Where's your girl? Do you and Anya ever do anything besides just talk? Have you tried asking her out?"

"Well, no. I'm giving it some time. The wounds between us need to heal some more, I think."

"Uh, about that. I don't think I ever told you…never said I…sorry 'bout the situation with Anya."

Xander looked befuddled. "The whata'?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Anya and I…Magic Box…the drunken shagging?"

"Oh!"

"Yeah, um, sorry. It was a mistake. Something I wish I could take back."

"Thanks. I accept your apology."

Spike nodded in response and silence filled the air between them.

"I'll ask Anya out if you ask Buffy out." Xander stated matter of factly. "And if either one of us bails and chickens out, then that person has to do all of the chores for two weeks."

"Shuh, I do them anyway. Wouldn't matter much."

"Aw, come on. You…coward."

"What? Did you just…no, you just didn't call me…"

"COWARD. Yeller, lily-livered, fraidy-cat. 'Poor lil' Spikey, all timid and shy, can't ask Buffy out, don't know why'." Xander started singing sarcastically. Of course he didn't see Spike swiftly light upon him, knocking him about with the throw pillow from the couch. Xander cowered and screamed like a girl. A loud knock came from the front door and Spike threw the pillow at him.

"Ass." He walked to the door, listening to Xander laughing hysterically from his chair. Opening the door revealed a confused Buffy and Dawn standing in the hallway.

"Buffy, bit. Um, come on in." Spike stepped back to let them in.

"I thought maybe someone was being murdered in here. Thought I was going to have to break the door down and come to somebody's rescue."

"Nah, just Xander, being a daft clot. Though, hmm, murder ranks high…" Spike smiled coyly at the girls, causing Dawn to giggle. She walked up to him and gave him a friendly hug.

Buffy and Spike sat on the couch while Dawn shared Xander's chair arm. After a bit, Dawn elbowed Xander and motioned towards the kitchen.

"Hey Dawnie, wanna help me make some sandwiches? Buffy, Spike, want a sandwich?" They both answered sure.

The silence was deafening. Spike knew it was now or never. He turned and looked at the radiant beauty sitting on the other side of the couch. She noticed and looked back. He smiled and started to wimp out but just at the last moment…

"Buffy, mind if I tag along with you on patrol tonight? Just you and me, like old times?"

She couldn't spit out an answer, just shook her head slowly up and down.

He continued. "Maybe then…afterwards, we could…would you like to go to the Bronze, maybe get a bite…uh, something to eat…afterwards?"

"Are you…are you asking me out…on a date?"

He denied it. "No, no, not a date." He looked back at her. "Do you want me to?" He held his breath, even though he didn't need to breathe.

A glowing smile slowly crept onto her face. "I would like that. What time do you want to meet for patrol?"

Spike was having a hard time speaking at the moment. She had to call out his name. He shook the shock away before speaking again.

"Um, well I can come over to your place about 8? We can head out from there if that's alright with you?"

"Sounds like a date." Now Buffy was sounding shy.

Neither one of them knew that Dawn was standing by the kitchen doorway listening to every bit of their conversation. She had turned and grabbed Xander's shirt and started jumping up and down, silently screaming her happiness that her two favorite people were coming together. Xander just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

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Spike showed up at Buffy's at 8 o'clock, right on the dot. Buffy met him out on the porch, looking like she was dressed to go out somewhere nice instead of just going out to dust some vamps and later the Bronze. She had her weapon bag strapped to her back, her hair and face all done up. Spike was speechless at first while they stared at each other briefly. She noticed he had dressed up nicely, too. He was wearing tan cargos and a royal blue shirt. 'Interesting', she thought to herself.

Not much was said along the way. Buffy did most of the talking and it was mostly about Dawn and work. When they reached the cemetery, she pulled the bag off and opened it.

"I have something to give to you." She reached into it and pulled out a very worn, very old black leather duster.

"My coat! Wasn't sure where I had left it. You're telling me you've kept this thing this whole time?"

"Yeah, kept it for you in case you ever came back."

"Brings back a lot of memories. A lot of bad memories, of course. And the way I got it, I just don't…"

"Know if you need it anymore?" Buffy finished his sentence.

"Yeah, I guess that's what it is." He looked at it forlornly.

Suddenly, they were ambushed from all sides. Five pesky vamps decided to surprise attack. Spike dropped the jacket onto the ground and started pummeling the idiots who were interrupting a moment. Didn't take long to finish them off though and Spike and Buffy finished their patrol, with him just carrying the duster over his arm.

"Ready to go Bronzing?" she asked breaking the deafening silence.

"Ready whenever you are."

As they walked through the back alleyway, Spike stopped next to the dumpster. Buffy turned when she noticed he wasn't beside her anymore. She watched as he lifted the lid and tossed the coat inside. He walked towards her, looking proud and confident. She slid her hand into his, surprising him for a second, but he squeezed it in return and held on tight.

TBC





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