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A/N: Well, I never thought one day could last so many chapters! hehe But this chapter will continue where I left off and move on to the next day as well. Thanks again for reading. I've already started on the third part to the trilogy yet I'm not sure, since I've received no feedback, if I should post it. It's still a WIP so...anyway, I'd really like to hear comments. I know Spike is a bit OC but I don't like making him a pig all the time. ;)


~*~

The couple strolled along Revello Drive leading to the Summers' house just as Buffy realized that they were holding hands. Fingers had become entwined and hands had fused together about halfway home and it had seemed so natural. Spike was a hand holder, something she never imagined him ever being. Something he probably never really had the chance to do, living or unliving; being affectionate and tender. Really how far could a big bad get in the demon realm if he was all touchy feely with everyone, especially the slayer?

She felt all bubbly inside, giddy like a teenager on a first date. She laughed to herself and wondered if he felt the same way.

Spike glanced over at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. They had been quiet most of the way back home, both absorbed in the unusually serene night. His thoughts, though, jolted to and fro, like a wild tennis match between his human and demon side.

What was he doing? Here, feeling happy and content with this extraordinary woman who could kick his ass in a heartbeat, and stake him in even less time than that. Ahh, he was sure he had an idea, he wasn't all that daft. Wanting, needing, trying to exist in this crazy, jumbled up world he called home. Wanting to feel acceptance among the humans he had grown familiar with over the years, needing to feel safety and comfort and not constantly ridiculed, nor hunted and beaten, trying to help others instead of being self-serving, trying to find a niche, a safe place to settle his exhausted travel weary and time worn body. Ironic that Sunnydale happened to be the only place he had ever stayed the longest in and that he often referred to as home.

Then there was the other side, the other thing that mocked him, tried to get its hooks in and pull him back down into the pit of darkness. He found that he was much stronger than ever before and with the soul as a stepping stone he could use over and over to continue his path up and out, he was infallible. He had never been as sure of himself as he was now, presently and for the future. The exasperating demon he battled internally was hanging on the precipice, on the verge of being pushed over to fall to the wayside.

They say love conquers all. This champion walking next to him, holding his hand, loving him, and right at this exact moment, gazing directly at him with so much to offer him. Spike gulped readily and shyly looked elsewhere, hearing Buffy laugh softly. He knew this was still something he would definitely have to get used to but was willing to work on it nevertheless. Work on it a lot, yeah, he could handle that and he found himself laughing softly as well.

As they walked up the front steps leading to the front door, he gave her hand a loving squeeze before sliding it out of her grasp. She turned and looked at him questioningly. He gently brushed his fingers down her jaw line to rest under her chin.

"Just in case. Don't want to have to rush into explanations and details and such right now, do we?"

Buffy patted him lightly on the chest and nodded in understanding as she unlocked the door and the couple strolled in, Spike trailing behind her. The house was noticeably dark and still as she proceeded up the flight of stairs. She had only taken a step or two when she had reached behind her and felt nothing. She paused, twisted her head around and saw him standing where she left him, hands thrust deep into his jeans pockets and staring at his feet.

Spike lifted his head slowly and looked at her. "Well, goodnight, Buffy. See you in the morning then."

"Umm, not goodnight, not now, I…I thought we were going to continue our talk and…and possibly 'other' things," Buffy whispered, trying not to sound desperate.

The tilt of his head told her he was unsure of what to do, or what to say. Buffy held out her hand, beckoning him to walk towards her, hoping upon hope he would concede.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but shouldn't we wait for the 'other' things til we’re both ready? Remember slow? No rush?"

Buffy took a step back down, "Oh oh, no not those things! Just, well, keep me company tonight? I miss spending time with you and we've lost a lot of that time. Just hold me and be all cuddly and snuggly, and perhaps, maybe, I wouldn't mind some kissage a little later?"

Spike chuckled as he closed the gap between them and took her hand in his as Buffy began to walk up the stairs backwards. "I think I can handle a snuggle and a snog. But won't lil sis, or the witches be suspicious when I walk out of your room in the morning?"

"Dawn will most likely be up and gone by the time I even wake up. And if I remember correctly, you sleep in even later. So everyone should be out of the house in the morning, no one will suspect a thing. And what is there to suspect? Two people who love one another spending a night together in a non-intimate way, well except for the touching and kissing part that is. We can announce our togetherness status later when we're ready to."

As Buffy stepped up off the last step, Spike stopped abruptly pulling her to a standstill as well. "Um, Buffy?" he cleared his throat and motioned her to look behind her with a nod of his head.

"What is it?" Buffy whispered, looking at him confused.

"I don't think you’ll have to worry too much about explaining things to the lil bit later."

"What?!" Buffy turned to find Dawn standing in her bedroom doorway, arms crossed with a huge grin plastered on her face.

Buffy let go of Spike's hand as he took the last step up and stood behind her. "Dawnie! What are you doing up so late?" Buffy whispered sternly.

"Apparently not suspecting that my sister and my friend are planning on having a slumber party together tonight. And definitely not seeing her two favorite people being all cozy and lovey with one another."

Suddenly Willow's door flew open and both girls popped their heads out. "Whose doing what with whom?"

Buffy fish mouthed as she looked back and forth between her friends and her sister. She felt Spike lean in closer to her. "I think we've been found out, luv."

She turned and glared at him but quickly graced him with a sweet smile which he returned before she turned back to their spectators.

"Oh, just go to bed. I'll talk to you all tomorrow. We'll talk to you all. Goodnight."

Buffy turned swiftly, grabbing Spike's hand and tugging him along behind and through her bedroom door. The couple heard the giggles followed by the clicking of closing doors. She hit the switch, illuminating the room in a soft light from the lamp next to the bed. Spike smirked at the look on her face.

"Well, that was totally irritating. No one ever gives me a chance to be secretive and evasive anymore, not since…oh well, what does it matter." She smiled, rising on her tiptoes to brush a soft kiss across his lips.

"Yeah, what does it matter?" Buffy walked over to her dresser to pull out her pjs while Spike walked around her room, running his fingers over her trinkets and pretties, absorbing all he could, wanting to know even more of this petite woman he was about to share a night with, in close quarters, in her bed, just talking and snuggling. Buffy mumbled something which he didn't quite catch.

"Hmm?" he turned around and his eyes locked onto her fingers, nimbly undoing the last button on her blouse before sliding it over her shoulders and tossing it onto the chair next to her closet. He couldn't help as his sight traveled over the golden bare skin on her taut tummy, pert breasts covered in lacy white material, a perfect creamy neck and ending on two green eyes penetrating his which widened in surprise matching his own wide-eyed stare.

Both turned around swiftly mumbling apologies as Buffy hurriedly threw on an over-sized t-shirt and Spike marched over to the bookshelf, pretending to scan over the titles on the spines of all the tomes sitting in front of him. He felt her presence directly behind him but couldn't bring himself to turn around.

"I'm really sorry. I guess I'm so comfortable around you I didn't think about what I was doing until, well, until I was unconcealing my, um, concealables. I hope I didn't embarrass you."

Spike chuckled as he turned to look at her. "Do I look like someone who's embarrassed?" He added an eye roll. "Piffle! I'm the Big Bad, I don’t get embarrassed."

Buffy patted him on the chest, sliding her hands up around his neck and pulling him down into a hug, whispering softly in his ear, "You're still big and just a little bad some of the times. I'm happy with that and that's all that matters."

"That's something to be proud of then," he whispered back, nuzzling the soft, sensitive area just below her ear and growling quietly as she backed them up to the bed.

Buffy pulled away, crawled into the bed and slid under the covers patting the empty space next to her. Spike toed his shoes off, pulled the sheet and comforter back up before situating himself on top of them, rolling on to his side facing her and propping his head up with his hand. She scooted closer, pulling his free hand over to settle on her tummy as he slid his other arm under her so her head rested on it. Neither said a word, their plans on more conversation long forgotten as they enjoyed the nearness of one another and soon Buffy fell asleep in his soothing embrace. He stayed awake long enough to watch her peaceful slumber for a few minutes before drifting off into dreamland himself.

~~*~~

"Buffy! Buffy!." A loud, obnoxious pounding on her bedroom door caused the couple to bolt straight up in the bed. The door swung open and Dawn stood there, hand over her eyes.

"Are you both decent?" she giggled.

"Dawnie," Buffy whined. "You better have a damn good reason for waking us up so early."

"Buffy, it's 10 in the morning." Dawn plopped down on her sister's bed, bouncing slightly just to annoy. Spike fell back, pulling one side of the pillow over his head and rolling away from the exuberant girl and her excessively loud tone.

"And it’s a good reason, other than I just wanted to see the two of you all snuggly-wuggly. Giles just called from his new apartment and he's heading over here to discuss the new arrivals. I didn't think you wanted him to know about you and Spike just yet. Even though you know this was all inevitable. I had no worries that you two wouldn't get back together. The bond is too strong to break, maybe stretched to the limits sometimes, but never break. I knew all along."

"Thank you dear, sweet sister of mine. And thanks for the post." Buffy turned to Spike and shook him softly.

"Spike, Spike, come on. Time to get up. Giles is on his way over. You need to get up."

Dawn had hopped off of the bed and made her way over to the other side to bend over the snoozing vampire. In a high pitched tone, she screamed out his name. He shot up like a spring, eyes still closed.

"Bloody hell, bit, I'm up. You better be on fire or being attacked by evil, blood sucking fiends cause really, not a good way to wake up a sleeping vamp, ruddy soul or not."

Dawn patted him on the shoulder tenderly. "So sorry grumpy. Isn't he so cute in the morning or what?" Spike turned his head, a look between confusion and offense clearly etched on his face. Dawn smiled sweetly looking to her sister for confirmation.

Buffy ran her fingers through his sleep tousled hair. "I think he's cute all the time."

Spike huffed then growled. "M'not cute. Ruggedly handsome, yes, but not bloody cute. Leave m'alone, evil sisters."

"Wow, he is grumpy in the mornings," Dawn replied.

Spike ran his hands over his face to wake up.

"He's not a morning person." Buffy rubbed soothing circles on his back.

"Bloody right, m'not. Creature of the night here. Or did we forget that part of the cute, cuddly boyfriend?" Spike continued to growl.

Dawn squealed. "Boyfriend?"

Spike was exasperated and pointed his finger at her. "Tut, not another word from you and aren't you supposed to be doing little girly things with your other girly pals right about now? I'm gonna get the shower before any other evil things around here use up all the hot water. Talk amongst yourselves, I'm not going to be in the same room when you do."

Buffy and Dawn watched as he stalked out of the room and down the hall, slamming the bathroom door on his way into the room.

"Yes definitely not a morning person," Dawn repeated her sister's implication. She jumped onto the bed again just as Buffy slid out.

"So, spill all the gory details. You can talk while you wait for the shower."

"All I'm going to say right now is…I'm so happy. We decided to start fresh and take things slow."

"Uh, Buffy, sleeping with your potential boyfriend is not really taking it slow."

"Dear, little sis. That's all we did, sleep, hence the fully clothed vampire and your sister. And it was the nicest sleeping I've ever done. I have never felt so protected and cherished. I felt safe in his arms, and felt the…bond, as you say, grow stronger. It can only get better as time goes by and I'm looking forward to it."

A few minutes passed as the sister sat and talked about future things, happy things other than slaying and apocalypses.

Dawn jumped off the bed excitedly and walked towards her sister. "I'm so happy for you." Spike walked in, rubbing a towel over his wet head. "Happy for both of you."

Spike smiled lovingly at his little bit. "Um, Giles just pulled up. I'll let him in if you wanna grab a shower."

Buffy stepped in front of him, drawing his face down to her with two fingers placed under his chin and gave him a chaste yet sweet kiss. "Thanks, be down soon," and she skipped off to the bathroom.

Spike was left in the room with the hyper teenager who stood there bouncing up and down, looking at him strangely, making him uncomfortable. If he was able to blush, he was sure he would be doing exactly that at the moment.

"Giles here. Door locked. Need to…let him in." And he turned to run down the stairs to unlock the door for the watcher, Dawn following closely.

"'Morning Giles," Spike looked over at the nuisance hovering behind him. "Thank God you're here."

"Well, thank you, I think. Any reason why my company is so enthusiastically wanted this morning?"

"Nothing really special, just like having another male in the house. Buffy will be down soon, taking a shower. Something to drink perhaps? Tea, coffee?" The two men walked into the kitchen leaving Dawn in the living room to watch TV.

"Anything new on the home front? Any new developments?" Giles asked while preparing the teakettle and Spike poured himself a mug of blood.

"I was about to ask you the same. Buffy and I patrolled last night, nothing new, same ol', same ol'. Though I did have something I would like to ask you about. Buffy. She took on a gaggle of vamps last night, said she didn't want my help. The last two gave her a bit of a tussle, knocked her off her feet and she smacked her head on a gravestone."

"Dear Lord, is she all right?"

"She was fine, slight headache but it went away. The thing is…I felt it, too. I…I didn't mention it to her because I was…well, I was shocked and confused. I felt her pain in my head."

Giles stared at the vampire sipping warm pig's blood from his mug. "Ok, watcher, what is it?"

"You and Buffy, well, you're linked in some mystical capacity. There is a prophecy relating how you two are connected, you share physical feelings, pain, and possibly other things as well. When the bond is stronger, you may be able to communicate telepathically with one another."

"You're saying that…Giles, that almost sounds like a mating…we weren't mated before, were we?...no, I would know that. It's almost like a Sire/Childe…that's ridiculous."

"What's ridiculous? Hi, Giles," Buffy walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Buffy. We were discussing the implications of sire and childe bonds, and…". Giles stopped in mid sentence as he watched Spike pour a cup of coffee and hand it to Buffy, both smiling at the other over the gesture.

The two noticed the silence and simultaneously turned to look over at the mute watcher. Realizing how close they were standing together, both jumped back and walked in opposite directions, but Buffy suddenly turned and swiftly walked to Spike.

"This is silly." She grabbed his arm to stop him and pulled him to her. "Giles, Spike and I are…we're, um..."

Buffy looked to Spike for help. "What are we doing?"

"Buffy and I have decided to…to make a go of it. As of last night, we are officially on a new path of…" Spike then turned to Buffy.

"Coupledom? Togetherness? Uh, close knit relationship?" Buffy tried.

"Well, it's about bloody time. I had a suspicion something was amiss here. You were being too kind to one another. It was all too strange and I was beginning to get worried. Now that you are together, we need to sit down and discuss matters at hand. Our imminent new arrivals, The First, and a rediscussion of the prophecy concerning the two of you."

"Well, that shoots my plans for the rest of the day." Buffy sighed as Giles looked at her firmly. "I'm joking. Well, what are we all standing around here for? We have evil at hand business to discuss."

TBC





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