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Later that night...

Buffy and Spike lay together in his bed. Spike was on his back and Buffy was on her side, cuddling with him, their naked bodies aglow and flushed from lovemaking. They were taking it easy tonight though, no marathon sex. The night of dancing (and clandestine balcony shagging) had left them tired.

Though they were alone in the bedroom, the door was left wide open. Sunshine stayed on her own bed in the living room, but they wanted her to know she wasn't being shut out. It seemed to pacify Spike's furry daughter to at least have the option of sleeping in the bedroom with them. Spike and Buffy did occasionally shut the door if they were doing something particularly intense or acrobatic in the bedroom, but most nights the door stayed open.

"You know you're enough for me, right?" Buffy said out of the blue.

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"I was just thinking... that me wanting to play games and pretend to be other people sometimes might make you think that I don't love what we normally do."

"Oh. Well, I didn't think that," Spike assured her.

"The role-playing and kinky sex are things I never did before, and they're a lotta fun, but just you and me being ourselves in your bed is... God, it's amazing." Buffy sighed, a smile curling up on her lips. "I want to make sure you don't think I'm bored with you. If I hurt your feelings by giving you the wrong idea... I'd feel terrible, and it's totally not true." She raised her head and looked at him.

Spike smiled, held her tight for a moment, and kissed the tip of her nose. "I didn't think you were bored; my feelings haven't been hurt a bit. I love how randy and experimental you are. My li'l hellcat." He moved his hand down her back and patted her on the butt. "But... it's still nice to hear you say that."

"Okay, just making sure. But if there's something you don't want to do or you're just not in the mood, please tell me?"

"I will, pet."

Buffy laid her head down again. A few moments later, she said, "I want to tell them."

"Tell who, what?"

Buffy sat up, curled her legs under her and turned to him. "I want to tell our friends about us. Not being able to dance with you tonight without worrying that they'd get suspicious was killing me. I thought of telling them at the Bronze, but... it didn't seem like the right time. And I was afraid they'd guess what we were doing while we were both M.I.A." She blushed and ducked her head, imagining how awkward it would've been if their friends had guessed what she and Spike were doing on the balcony.

Spike sat up with his back against the headboard. His delighted, boyish grin made Buffy smile wider; she could tell that he was just as eager as she was to be open and honest about their relationship with the people they cared most about in the world.

"Yeah? You're ready for that?" Spike was ecstatic at hearing Buffy say she wanted to make them 'official'.

Buffy smiled and nodded, reaching out and caressing the side of his face. "I don't just want to tell them, I need to tell them. I'm gonna explode if I can't brag about you and make my friends horribly jealous about my wonderful, gorgeous, thoughtful boyfriend -- who also happens to be the world's greatest lover. I want to put my arms around you and kiss you whenever I want, I want to be able to sit on your lap and feed you French fries and blooming onions. I can't pretend I'm not in love with you in front of other people anymore; no more sneaking around."

Spike took her hand and placed a soft kiss on top of it. "I want you to be positive that this... that I'm what you want, pet."

Buffy leaned forward and kissed him. "I've been positive that you're the one I want -- I knew since the first night we were together. We gave it some more time to see if we both felt the same way about each other after our heads cleared, and I can say, without any doubts, that I love you even more now than I did in the beginning. You're the one, Spike."

Spike felt tears of happiness building in his eyes. He put his hand on the back of her neck and drew her to him, then kissed her tenderly. This was the talk he'd been waiting for; those were the words he'd been waiting to hear her say. Part of him had been terrified that, the longer it took Buffy to want to 'come out' as a couple, the more chance there was she would change her mind about being with him. It was like a huge weight (he hadn't even been aware was weighing him down) was lifted off Spike's chest. "I feel the same way, Buffy. I love you and I want everyone to know it. Nothing in my life has felt as right as being with you feels. You're my destiny."

Buffy tilted her head and sighed, feeling all gooey and melty. "God... the things you say just make me want to..." She sighed again.

"Make you want to... what?" Spike smirked slightly.

"That depends on how tired you feel right now," Buffy said, raising and lowering her eyebrows.

Spike wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. As their embrace became more passionate, Spike rolled them over until Buffy's back was against the mattress and he was on top of her. She moaned and closed her eyes as her hands wandered over his back and shoulders.

Spike kissed and sucked lightly at her throat, breathing in the scent of her freshly shampooed hair, as his hands stroked slowly up and down her body. He felt overwhelmed by the moment; Buffy filled all of his senses. The emotions coursing through him, the feel of her body under his, her hands moving over his back with a lover's touch, the way her silky skin felt under his roaming hands, the scent of her hair and the taste of her skin -- all of those things made him say something he immediately wished he could take back.

"Move in with me!" Spike exclaimed breathlessly with his lips against her neck. He rose up on his elbows, looking as surprised as Buffy was by what he'd said.

"Huh?" Buffy blinked at him. She wasn't sure if she'd heard him right.

He gulped. "N-nothing... Bloody hell... pretend I didn't say that." Spike lifted off of her and sat on the edge of the bed with his feet on the floor. He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his face into his hands. "I'm sorry... I keep saying crazy shit like that. What the bloody hell is wrong with me?" he asked miserably.

Buffy sat up and scooted closer to him. She kissed his shoulder and rubbed his back. "It's okay. I think it's really sweet that you say crazy shit like that; it shows me how much you really love me. Cohabitation is a big step, though..."

Spike still had his hands over his face. "This is it, innit? This is why women leave me... 'cos I'm a stupid git who keeps putting pressure on them to do things they're not ready for..." He wondered if Drusilla had ever wanted to marry him or if she'd only said yes to his proposal to make him happy (and shut him up for a while). "I'd never forgive myself if I drove you away, Buffy. I'm sorry..."

"I told you, it's okay," she reassured him. "You won't drive me away. I'm not going anywhere, alright?" Buffy's mind and heart were racing. A big part of her wanted to scream 'Yes!' to moving in with him. But weren't they rushing things already? Waiting was the smart thing to do. Waiting for what, Buffy wasn't sure, but she could just imagine the lectures they would get from everyone (friends, parents, siblings, postmen, bag boys at the supermarket, etc.) about moving in together so quickly.

"Don't tell me it doesn't freak you out when I constantly get more and more serious on you -- it has to freak you out," Spike mumbled into his hands. "And I wouldn't blame you a bit."

"Okay... I admit, if you were anybody else, and I didn't love you so much too, I would probably be freaked out. But you're you and I do love you -- therefore, no wiggins. I'm just... surprised that you asked me to move in with you already, I'm not upset."

Spike sighed, taking his hands away from his face but staying hunched over. "I'm going to ruin everything if I keep pressuring you. I don't want to do that -- I can't lose the best thing that ever happened to me 'cos I have the impulse to rush things along. I've never felt this way before... I just love being with you so much. But I can't seem to control what comes out of my sodding mouth."

Buffy placed a hand on his cheek and turned his face to her, and then she leaned in and kissed him softly while stroking his cheekbone. "I do see us living together in the future. But right now... I'm sorry, Spike -- I don't want you to think I don't love you, because I do love you. I love you so much..." Buffy pressed more light kisses to his shoulder as she continued rubbing his back.

Spike shook his head and smiled sadly. "I'm the only one who needs to apologize, you've got nothin' to be sorry for. You want to wait 'til we've been together longer -- like any rational person would. You don't have to apologize 'cos you don't want to move in with someone only one month after you started secretly dating them."

"But it's not just someone... it's you." She pouted.

Spike reclined to lie on his back widthwise on the bed. Looking up at the ceiling, he said, "Bloody hell, now I got you feelin' guilty. Why did I open my stupid fucking mouth?"

Buffy laid on her side beside him, propping her head up with her hand. She ran her hand lightly over his chest and stomach. "Stop insulting your mouth. It's my favorite-est mouth in the whole wide world."

Spike looked at her seriously. "Tell me the truth, Buffy: I'm not going to scare you off, am I? I promise I'll stop jumping ahead and stay in the moment from now on. It's not easy for me to keep what I'm thinking and feeling for you bottled up... but I'll try harder."

Buffy did feel guilty for not accepting Spike's offer. He looked so sad; she wanted to make him smile again. He wasn't afraid to make that kind of big commitment to her, so she should just follow her instincts too and say yes. But... they had to slow down or risk jumping the rails. It was all so perfect, Buffy was afraid the other shoe was going to drop any time now -- and moving in together so soon might be the thing that causes trouble between them.

"You're not going to scare me off. I'm totally scare-free. I want to keep jumping ahead too -- I'm the first one that said 'I love you' because I just couldn't hold it inside. Remember? I wanted to run off to invent a time machine after I blurted that out." They both chuckled a little at that memory. "But we should take things a little slower."

"You worried our passion will burn out?" Spike asked. He didn't worry about that at all (at least not as far as his own feelings went); maintaining passion and romance in a relationship had never been a problem for him, and with Buffy's penchant for role-playing, he didn't see how either of them could ever get bored with each other.

Buffy shook her head. "No, I'm not worried about that; we've got loads and loads of passion. But we're going to be together a long, long time, we gotta save some stuff, like moving in together, for later and pace ourselves," she said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I know you're right... I'm just an impulsive, passionate bastard." He sighed, but was happy to hear her say she thought they would be together for a long, long time.

"You're a very sweet and sexy impulsive, passionate bastard." She kissed him tenderly. "I love that you want to be with me all the time. And that's what I want too, but I think we should try being more..." She searched for the right word.

"Sane?" Spike asked with a smirk.

"Prudent," Buffy finished, smiling. "I've got those same crazy impulses as you, believe me, baby, I do. I'm also the one who insisted that we do naughty things on the balcony tonight... I still can't believe we did that!" She covered her face with her hands and laughed. "I'm such a ho!"

"Well, your name ain't 'Buffy Danger Summers' for nothin'," Spike chuckled.

"I'll be cutting down on the danger for a while, I think. We were incredibly lucky nobody caught us. If we'd gotten caught tonight, we would've been banned from the club, and that's the only decent place in town to go dancing. We would've been screwed -- in the bad way. Less impulsive is the way to go for us."

"Yeah," Spike had to agree, "neither one of us were thinking of consequences... we just wanted to be bad. You're right, we should be more cautious. We've both got fiery, passionate souls -- ain't easy to tame them, but we can try."

Buffy kissed his chest. "So are you okay with us slowing down a teensy bit? We can revisit the moving in thing in a few months. How's that?"

Spike rolled on top of her again. He smiled down on her and then dropped a kiss down onto her lips. "I adore you, Buffy." Spike lovingly cupped her face in his hand, stroking her cheek with his thumb. His eyes moved over her face, taking her beauty in, before locking back on her eyes. "When you're ready for the next step, whether it's another month or another year, just say the word... I'll be ready."

Buffy smiled and turned her face to kiss the palm of his hand. She had to fight the urge to just say yes again; it was so difficult to rein herself in. "What if you decide you want to retract the offer before I'm ready to say yes?"

Spike smiled and shook his head. "Uh-uh, not gonna happen. My offer stands 'til the end of the world."

"Did you talk to Sunshine about it? She might not like having another roommate," Buffy joked.

Spike kissed her lips, then kissed a line down her chin and the front of her throat. "Sunshine won't mind. She likes havin' you around... those extra biscuits you give her when you think I'm not lookin' don't hurt either."

Buffy giggled as she ran her hands up his arms, lightly squeezing his biceps. "Oh, you know about those, huh? Damn, I thought I was being stealthy."

"Mmmhmm, I know about the biscuits. You girls are bonding, so I won't make a fuss. But if my daughter starts gaining too much weight, you're the one who will have to answer to the vet."

"Mmmm okay, I'll take the heat from the vet if I must," Buffy said while rubbing her thighs against his sides.

A few moments later, Spike asked, "How do you want to do it?"

Buffy hummed as several sexual positions ran through her mind. "Oh, so many good ones to choose from... the Black Bee maybe...?"

Spike lifted his head and looked at her. "Eh?"

"You know, the Black Bee position -- the one where you're --"

Spike laughed. "I should've been more specific; lots of thoughts are zipping through my mind right now. I meant, when and how do you want to tell our friends that we're an item."

"Oh," Buffy giggled. "Um, how about next Saturday? That's the next time we'll have them all together in one room."

Spike thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, sounds good. We'll tell them all next movie night. We'll watch the first movie, get some normal movie night fun in, and then we'll tell them."

Buffy nodded, feeling a bit anxious about it. "I hope they don't wig out, tell us we're crazy, and ask a million questions."

"Let them call us crazy, I don't care," Spike said, lowering his head to kiss her earlobe. "If feeling the way I do is insanity, then I prefer it to being rational."

"Mmmm, Spike," Buffy breathed, starting to lose herself in his touch. "As long as I don't find an engagement ring concealed in my dessert or at the bottom of a champagne glass for the next few months, I'll be fine," she said jokingly.

Spike pulled back and looked at her blankly. "Oh... good thing you told me. Does that mean you want me to return the ring, then?"

Buffy froze -- except for her eyes, which became as wide as pie plates. "Y-you bought a..."

Spike started laughing, not able to keep a straight face any longer. "Sorry, pet, I was just joking. I'm not that bug-shagging crazy."

She took a deep breath and put a hand across her eyes. "Oh my God... you scared the shit out of me!"

Spike laughed harder. "Ahh, so I can scare you! You really thought I was crazy enough to do it!"

Buffy used the hand she'd been covering her eyes with and smacked his chest. She unsuccessfully tried to keep from smiling and laughing herself. "You suck!"

"Aww, I'm sorry, kitten." Spike started kissing softly around her mouth. "I thought it'd be funny."

"Oh yeah, that was hysterical." She reached around him, giving his ass a swat and then hard a squeeze.

"I will be popping a certain question to you in the future... the far, far away future -- just so you know. You can start mentally preparing for it now..."

"Well... that would be nice -- in the far, far away future, but there's no rush. I think I'd like living in sin for a long time first. I likey the sin," Buffy said, then stuck the tip of her tongue out.

Just as they were getting back to the kissing and groping, they heard Sunshine barking loudly in the backyard.

Spike groaned. "Bloody hell... she's gonna wake up the neighbors. I'll be back." He hopped off the bed and took his robe out of the closet.

"What could she be barking at?" Buffy wondered, looking at the clock.

"Bloody raccoons've been knockin' over trashcans in the neighborhood, she probably saw one or picked up the scent of one. Sunshine don't like them comin' into her yard," Spike said as he pulled on his robe.

"Um, I was wondering, why do you put on the robe every time you leave the bedroom? You're... comfortable with your own nudity, so...?"

Spike smirked and cinched the robe closed. "I had to get in the habit of wearing something when I leave the bedroom. There were... incidents involving my next door neighbors. Apparently, they don't like having to see me starkers if they happen to be looking in the right direction at the right time."

"Stupid people." Buffy shook her head. "I'd buy a house next to you just for the prospect of seeing you strut around nude. That's if I didn't get to see you starkers any ol' time I want, of course. And those people are dumb enough to complain about it?" She shook her head again.

Spike laughed. "Yeah, crazy, ain't it? Who wouldn't want to get a gander at my hot, tight little body?" He started out of the bedroom.

"Y'know you're still going to be punished for that engagement ring joke, don't you?" Buffy asked, smirking.

Spike half-turned to her and cocked an eyebrow. "And how am I to be punished, milady?"

"I'll decide that when you come back." Buffy grinned evilly.

Spike gave her an openmouthed smile, then hurried off to the backyard to get Sunshine inside before she woke up the neighbors.

There was going to be some more sweet lovemaking when he came back, but Buffy wanted to get a little punishment in before the end of the night too. A spanking would do nicely.

"I'm gonna play his fine butt like bongo drums." Buffy slid out of bed and flipped on the overhead light. "Where'd I put that leather paddle?"





The following Saturday night...


The food and drinks were in the kitchen ready to be served. Their guests hadn't arrived yet. Buffy buzzed around the house, making sure everything was clean. Sunshine was lying on her doggy bed, watching curiously as Buffy moved around the living room.

Spike came out of the kitchen. "Pet, the place is neat as a pin. You fluffed up that same throw pillow five times."

Buffy stopped and took a deep breath, putting the pillow back on the couch and then giving it one last fluffing up. "I know... I'm just really nervous about telling everyone. I wasn't even this nervous when I had to tell my parents I was gay... which turns out to have been a little premature. I didn't have to give my dad a stroke, after all."

Buffy's father hadn't taken the news that she was a lesbian very well. He hadn't had an actual stroke, but his face did turn a few different shades of red and purple. Her mom had been a bit upset too (parents usually had a vision of how their children's lives would turn out, and it could sometimes be unsettling when those visions and hopes were dashed), but Joyce had done her best to accept the idea after a few days. Buffy doubted telling her parents she'd discovered she was actually bisexual would cheer them up any. Hopefully telling them that she'd found her soulmate and she was deeply in love with him would help.

"It'll be okay, luv, you'll see. They're probably gonna be really happy for us. And after the first awkward question and answer session, we'll all just relax and have a fun evening. You're not having... second thoughts about the whole thing, are you?" Spike asked. He was nervous about 'coming out' to their friends too, but he was keen on getting it over with so he and Buffy could be officially official.

Buffy shook her head. "Uh-uh, no second thoughts. I love you and I don't want the fact that we're an 'Us' to be a secret anymore."

"Just makin' sure." Spike smirked. "Y'know, just in case they do... overreact, I'm gettin' the money they owe for the food and beer at the beginning of the evening."

"Do you think they'll be mad we didn't tell them sooner?" Buffy worried.

"Nah, they'll understand. They're our friends, they'll cut us some slack." That's what he hoped, at least. "We'll explain how we needed to sort out our feelings before we told anyone else. We had to be sure we were really in love."

"I was sure a long time ago," Buffy said, slipping her arms around his waist. "I just didn't trust my own judgment enough to believe I could be that lucky. Suddenly falling for an amazing guy who loved me back just as suddenly."

"Ah, that first night we got together." Spike smiled and wrapped his arms loosely around her. "I knew I loved you then too... but, between the two of us, we had a lot of emotional upheaval goin' on. We were both still hurtin' so bad from the way our last relationships fell apart, and being together that night made us feel so bloody good for a change." He nuzzled her neck. "Feelings are funny things... you can get false positives sometimes. What seems 100% real can turn out to be a bad case of infatuation. But we gave it more time, and now we're confident. I love you, Buffy. I'm positive it's not a passing fancy. You're the woman of my dreams and I'm never lettin' you go." He kissed her gently.

"Oh," Buffy said with happy tears shimmering in her eyes, "you are so sweet... And you know you're the man of my dreams too, Spike."

"Does that mean there's also a woman of your dreams?" he asked playfully, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe you in a wig. Hmm..." Buffy stepped back and looked him over from head to toe, while nibbling on her thumbnail. "Actually, that's not a bad..."

"Eh! Stop right there," Spike laughed, holding up his hands. "I don't cross-dress."

"Not even for me?" Buffy batted her eyes and smiled innocently. She was just kidding around, of course, but it was fun to tease him. "I loved the way you looked with that eyeliner you wore on '80s theme night. Add lip tint, a little mascara to thicken those lashes, and some blush to highlight those beautiful cheekbones -- you'd make an incredibly sweet transvestite."

"You're evil," Spike chuckled.

Buffy giggled. "I'm just kiddin', baby. You know I love your extreme manliness. FYI, guys can still be sexy and manly wearing makeup. David Bowie was always hot, and --"

Sunshine got up and ran to the bay window (Spike had thoughtfully created a ramp for her so she could see out the living room window), barking at something outside.

Buffy tensed up again. "Oh, they must be here..."

Spike went to the window and looked out while petting Sunshine. "It's not them. The Wells family a few houses down just pulled into their driveway." He gave Sunshine a kiss on top of the head. "Good girl, Sunshine. You keep watch for us."

She looked up at him and wagged her tail, then jumped down and went into the kitchen for a drink of water.

"Are those the neighbors that objected to seeing you nekkid?" Buffy giggled.

"No." Spike laughed. "And thank the Lord above for that!"

"Why do you say that?"

He rolled his eyes. "One of them has a crush on me."

"Oh, really?" Buffy raised her brows, smiling good-naturedly. "Is she younger and prettier than me?"

"His name is Andrew and he's about 18, I think -- and no, he is not prettier than you. He finds any excuse to try chattin' me up. He's even brought me bloomin' onions and offers to walk Sunshine to try and curry my favor."

Buffy laughed, amused and relieved that it wasn't another gorgeous lingerie model that was crushing on her man. "Aww, that's sweet! You must give off some super-potent pheromones or something."

Spike shrugged. "He's annoying, but I feel bad for the poor little sod; he's really barkin' up the wrong tree."

Sunshine came out of the kitchen and went back to her bed, her ears twitched and she looked at Spike when he'd said her name. After realizing that he wasn't calling her, she curled up on her bed, looking deceptively drowsy; she was actually listening intently for any car engines or doors being shut outside.

Spike circled around behind Buffy, put his hands on her shoulders and began lightly massaging her. "Loosen up and relax. I can see you're still all tensed up."

Buffy closed her eyes and moaned, rolling her head on her shoulders. "Mmmm, I love your magic fingers... I hope tonight goes as smoothly as you think it will."

Spike leaned in close to her ear. "I know a real good way to help us both relax..."

Buffy grinned and reached behind her to smack the side of his butt. "Spike, we don't have time for that."

"I wasn't talkin' 'bout going completely wild," he clarified. "I thought we could just snog on the couch until the others show up. It'd be a lot more fun than compulsively cleaning the already spotless house."

She turned her head and smiled at him. "Oh, you wanna do a little necking, huh?"

"Mmmhmm." Spike kissed the rounded part of her shoulder.

"I do believe that would help soothe my nerves. I'm gonna have to go two whole hours before I get to snog you again; I'd better get in as much as I can now." Buffy took his hand and led him over to the couch. She sat down and tugged him down to sit with her.

Spike pulled Buffy's legs across his lap and settled in for a good snog.

Buffy put her arms around his neck and pulled him to her with a smirk. "You let us know when they get here, Sunshine," Buffy told the vigilant Shih-Tzu.

Sunshine raised her head and looked at them. The dog blinked, and then rested her chin on her front paws again.

Spike and Buffy kept their kisses and touches light, not wanting to get too into it because they'd have to stop and act natural when their friends showed up. Spike's left hand stroked from Buffy's outer thigh to her hip as they kissed, staying away from the erogenous zones. Buffy kept her hands above his belt, mostly stroking her fingers through his thick, silky hair and touching his face and neck. She had to catch herself a few times from taking their snog-fest further.

"God, I love your lips!" Buffy moaned and tilted her head back as Spike kissed her throat. She smiled and purred. "Mmmm, we should call them and tell them not to come. I'd rather do this all night."

"Would serve 'em right," Spike chuckled and raised his head to look at her. "But they're due here any minute now. Hey, maybe I can wrap a blanket around m'self and act like I have the flu when I greet them at the door."

"Good idea! But, oh darn, my car's out front -- they'll know I'm in the house already." Buffy pouted.

"Then you'd already be infected by Patient Zero," Spike said, pointing to himself. "You can tell them that it's too late for you and they should just save themselves by going away quickly."

They giggled.

Buffy sighed. "If I wasn't determined to tell them about us tonight, I'd seriously consider canceling on them."

"Mmmm, agreed. Let's make the most of the time alone we have left." Spike dove back down to her lips.





Willow, Tara, Anya, and Xander pulled up at the same time. They greeted each other at the front walk.

"Well, whaddya know," Willow said dryly, "Buffy's car is already here."

They could hear Sunshine barking from inside the house, announcing their presence. And then they could also see her jumping around at the living room window.

"I hope that gives them time to stop doing what they were probably doing..." Xander said. "The rest of us don't need to see the live show."

"Are we still pretending we don't know about them?" Anya asked. "I don't like having to lie this much and for so long. It hurts my head."

"A whole week's gone by and they didn't say a word to any of us." Willow shook her head. "I want to see how long it takes them to tell us, so yeah, we're still pretending. And remember, they lied to us first."

Tara sighed. "Is this going to be a tense and awkward evening, or can we forget about that for just one night and try to enjoy ourselves?"

"It's not an easy thing to forget about," Willow said, flashing back to what she'd seen on the balcony.

"Maybe they're not even doing it anymore," Tara said (not that she believed that herself). "So they figured there was no use telling us."

"Buffy's here early. She's never early for anything. They're doin' it," Willow concluded.

Anya nodded, agreeing with Willow. "I wonder if Spike was able to convert Buffy back to heterosexuality, or if she's just having fun and experimenting with driving a stick for a change?"

"Gay people can't be converted," Willow insisted with a roll of her eyes. "It's not a choice. It's not like switching from being a Baptist to a Methodist!"

It was Anya's turn to roll her eyes. "Alright, don't give me a speech. You know I'm not a homophobe -- I'm all for people loving each other no matter what their orientation. I only meant, I wonder if Buffy's made a permanent change or if she's just dabbling in penis experimentation, but she's not an addict yet."

"I guess we'll find out... eventually." Willow started up the walk to the house. "Okay, everybody get ready to act clueless."





Buffy and Spike stopped making out when Sunshine started barking and ran to the window. They knew it was their friends by the way the dog became even more excited when she looked out the window and saw who was making the noise outside.

Buffy turned on the TV and pretended she'd been doing something innocent while waiting for the others to arrive. There was a rerun of 'Top Model' on, so they were likely to believe she'd been watching it the entire time. It would be such a relief not to have to fib any more after tonight -- she didn't like to think of it as lying. Fibbing was a nicer word.

Spike opened the door and gasped, acting surprised. He rubbed his eyes and looked at them, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing. "You all actually showed up! It's a bloody miracle!"

"Ha-ha, yeah, good one," Xander said. "Get bent, Bleach Boy. You missed your calling, Spike. With acting talent like that, you belong on the stage." Xander thought, 'Your acting at the Bronze last week was Oscar-worthy.'

Sunshine yipped and danced around joyfully, her tail wagging so fast that it was practically a blur. She loved Spike's friends and she always had fun when they came to visit; it also meant more people to pet her, play with, and she'd be fed people food if she did tricks for them.

Spike smirked and stepped aside to let them in. "Sunshine says she wants you to come in, so I guess it's alright."

They filed into the house, hung up their jackets, and went into the living room.

Buffy rubbed her eyes, then gave them a shocked look. "Am I seeing things? Wow, you all really showed up!"

The others groaned and sighed.

"Y'know, that joke just keeps gettin' funnier!" Xander said with mock-enthusiasm. "Spike already got us with that one a minute ago."

Buffy laughed. "Heehee! Sorry, but Spike and I are allowed, by law, one little jab each."

Tara chuckled. "Okay, but we're even now; no more making us feel guilty for canceling on you last month."

"What cinematic landmark are we going to be viewing first?" Xander asked as he settled on the black leather recliner.

Spike went to the DVD player and made sure it was ready. "For starters, we have 'Death Bed: The Bed That Eats People'. I bet Scorsese is just kickin' himself that he didn't fight to direct that one."

"Huzzah! I've been wanting to see that!" Xander grinned, but then he frowned slightly. "But didn't you guys watch that last time?"

Spike and Buffy smiled at each other for a moment.

Spike replied, "Yeah, but it's a special movie; we couldn't let you miss it."

Buffy nodded in agreement. "Must be seen to be believed. You're gonna love it."

The others looked at each other briefly. They presumed that Spike and Buffy didn't get to watch much of the movie the first time.

Spike walked toward the kitchen. "I'll bring out the food and drink and then we'll get started. Buffy, you want to help me bring everything in, luv?"

"Sure." Buffy hopped up off the couch and hurried into the kitchen with Spike.

When the blonds were out of the room, the others exchanged more looks. It wasn't unusual for Spike to refer to any of them as 'luv' or 'pet' (except Xander, for obvious reasons), but in light of what they knew, him calling Buffy by a term of endearment had extra significance. The secretive couple were probably kissing in the kitchen, and giggling about how their friends had no clue.

(Continued...)


Chapter End Notes:
I had to split this chapter in half too :)



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