[Reviews - 11]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 1437 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Second chapter for today. :)
Meanwhile, back at her apartment, Buffy's dreams continued.

It had been two months since Buffy and Spike had started quietly seeing each other when Buffy walked into Spike's office to find it completely empty. She looked around in awe, unsure of what she really saw. The walls were bare, the shelves empty of all the books, his desk bare except for the computer. Her life had become quite a bit more hectic since the World Championships, but she had thought things were going well. He hadn't said anything to her about moving offices. She tried to think back to the last conversation they had had the day before. She couldn't recall that he said anything out of the ordinary. He had seemed a little quiet, but that wasn't all that unusual. It was then that she saw the plain white envelope sitting on the desk. When she moved closer she recognized Spike's dark scrawl on the envelope. Her breath caught when she realized it was her name written across it. Tentatively she reached out to take the letter from the desk. With shaking hands she pulled out a single sheet of white paper. Unfolding it she saw just two words before she burst into tears….

'I'm sorry…'

Buffy awoke with a start, her eyes wet with unshed tears and she could hardly catch her breath. It had been so long since she had thought about that year. It had been both the best and worst year of her life up until that point. This past year was definitely giving it a run for its money. Most people hadn't realized how far their relationship had gone; therefore many hadn't understood the sadness she had displayed after he had left. Not even Willow had known the full extent of things. It had made it that much harder for her to get over him leaving. She knew that Giles was right. No matter what had happened she and Spike could pull it off. She also knew that it would come at a great price. Pulling the blanket up closer around her she buried her face into her pillow to try to go back to sleep; praying that she wouldn't continue her dream.

"Buffy! Buffy, wake up! You're going to be late."

Buffy sat up quickly on the couch looking around wildly, startled at the fact that there was another voice in her apartment. It didn't register with her that it was Willow until she noticed her best friend staring at her with a concerned look on her face. The redhead had her nose scrunched up and she was eyeing Buffy carefully. She had been standing right next to her; having tapped her lightly on the shoulder in an effort to wake her up, but had backed up when Buffy jerked awake.

"You must have been really tired," Willow commented, as Buffy felt her heart rate start to slow down. "I knocked quite a few times, but you didn't answer. I'm glad I came in. It's nearly four; you probably would have slept straight through your lessons."

"Yeah, thanks Willow," Buffy said half-heartedly attempting to straighten her clothes and hair. She wondered if her eyes were red from crying earlier. Hopefully Willow didn't notice and ask." Hey, how did you get in?"

"Buffy, I have a key, remember?" Willow eyed her suspiciously. It wasn't quite like Buffy to forget that her best friend had a key to her apartment.

"Oh, right." Buffy headed into the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face, as Willow went towards the kitchen, intent on finding them both a drink. She was genuinely beginning to worry about her friend. She hoped that Buffy had had good news from Giles about the note she had received.

"Hey, what did you find out from Giles about that note?" she called.

"Not much," came Buffy's reply as she breezed into the kitchen, intent on grabbing an apple and heading out. "He took the note and said he'd look into it. I'm sure it will come to nothing." Buffy hoped that Willow wouldn't question her further. It was hard lying to her best friend. She knew it was probably for the best, considering the situation, but it was still hard. She wondered if Willow would even believe her, after all she hardly believed it herself. After taking that nap it almost felt like it had been a dream, but yet…it wasn't. Then again, Willow would probably find it exciting. Wasn't she always the one pushing Buffy towards Spike? She would probably find it terribly romantic.

"I guess so, but I doubt it." Willow replied doubtfully. "That was a freaky note. If someone sent it as a joke they need help."

"You work tonight?" Buffy asked, quickly changing the subject. The less said about it right now, the better. Shit was going to hit the fan in a few days when she came back married to Spike so she might as well try to enjoy a bit of calm before the storm.

"Nope," Willow responded with a big grin, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "I have a date with Darrell tonight." Darrell was Willow's new boyfriend. Oz had left earlier that year to train in Canada much to Willow's dismay. It had taken her quite a while to move on, she had only met Darrell a month or two prior, but things seemed to be going quite well between them. Buffy had only met him once, and he seemed like an okay guy. He was, well, different-and in Buffy's opinion that was putting it nicely. Willow, however, seemed to like him, so Buffy went along with it.

"Have a good time," she told her friend, happy at least to see her excited about dating again. At least one of them would have fun tonight, she thought. Stop that, her inner voice shouted at her. You are going to have a good time tonight. Even if it's not a real date, she reminded herself.

"I'm sure I will," Willow replied still carefully eyeing her friend. She couldn't put a finger on what it was, but something seemed off with Buffy. She was acting awful distant, which wasn't like her. Normally the two girls would be talking excitedly about something at the rink, or an upcoming date. Maybe she had really been spooked by the note.

"Guess I should head to the rink," Buffy said eyeing the clock and noticing it was going on 4:30. She needed to get there soon. Her first lesson was at 5:15. "Thanks for waking me up. I doubt I'll see you later. I'm going to stay for the Jr. guys' game."

Willow just gaped at her best friend. Who was this chick and where was her best friend? Buffy had been avoiding those games like the plague since Spike had returned. Then she grinned, maybe I finally did get through to her.

"Going out afterwards?" she asked heading towards the door.

"Maybe for a little while," Buffy told her non- committedly absentmindedly playing with the engagement ring on her finger. It wasn't really a lie; she couldn't imagine that she and Spike would be out very long. She quickly stopped playing with her ring, when she noticed Willow watching her.

"Well, enjoy, and I had best hear all about it later, missy!" Willow told her with a mock stern look, apparently not noticing Buffy's fidgeting. With that she slipped out the door and headed towards her own apartment across the hall.

"I'm sure you will," Buffy muttered. Deciding she had a few minutes she ran back to her room to change.

She arrived at the rink just a few minutes before five. She had just enough time to get her skates on and meet her students out on the ice. After two lessons with two of her more favorite students she headed towards the back of the arena where the hockey rink was. She found a seat near the top railing of the bleacher like seats. She had a good view of the game and could see where the team entered and exited the ice. The game started promptly at seven. Watching the game Buffy realized how much she had missed attending them. She enjoyed watching how animated Spike got with the players and refs. He threw his whole self into the game. Buffy was delighted when the team won 5-1. She noticed, however, that as the game drew to a close she got more and more nervous about their 'date' afterwards. What would they talk about? What was it that Spike felt she needed to plan for their 'wedding'? Would he tell her why he left? All those questions and more swirled through her mind as she sat in the bleachers watching the parents and other fans leave. Once she saw the team members trickling out of the locker room below she realized it was time to find Spike. Taking a deep breath she left the bleachers and headed down towards his office. On the way she resolved to enjoy the opportunity and do her best not to make a fool of herself. Spike's office door was open when she arrived.

"Hey," she said softly walking on in. Spike was at his desk shuffling through some papers. He quickly put the papers away and looked up.

"Ready to go, pet?" he asked with a smile.

Buffy nodded, not quite trusting her voice at the moment. Spike took a moment to ensure that his computer was turned off and then joined her at the door. He grabbed his black leather duster off the hook on the door and easily slipped it on.

"Shall we?" he asked, flipping off the light at the door and placing a hand at the small of her back. Buffy nodded and let him direct her out of his office. In the parking lot Buffy looked around for his old DeSoto, but she didn't see it. In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember ever seeing it since he'd returned. She wondered if perhaps he sold it, or if had just finally given up. As if sensing her curiosity, Spike directed her towards a dark colored Jeep near the back of the lot.

"Put the DeSoto in storage when I came back here. Didn't really want to put the miles on it by driving it back."

Buffy just nodded, and allowed him to open her door for her. They rode in silence the few minutes it took to get to The Espresso Pump. Once inside, Spike directed her to find them a seat while he picked up their drinks. She made her way over to a semi-private table near the back of the coffee house where it seemed to be pretty quiet.

"Here ya go, love." Spike said a few minutes later setting a diet Coke in front of her. He took the seat opposite her and put down his own cup of tea. Both seemed a little nervous to start the conversation so Buffy decided to take the bull by the horns and jump right in. She didn't like the silence.

"So…Giles mentioned that there were a few things that you 'demanded' that I get to make the decisions about." That had been one thing she had been intrigued by, curious about what Spike thought she needed to decide.

"O' course. It's not every day you have a weddin'. I didn't want them plannin' everything for you." Spike said. Buffy thought he almost seemed shy about it, not at all like the Spike she had been expecting. "'Sides, I figured it might be a little bit better experience for you if you got to plan a bit of it yourself. Know 's not real and all between us, but…." Spike hated the fact that this was bringing out his softer side. It was something he had buried long ago, and he hated feeling this way. But he wanted to make the best of this for Buffy's sake, and that meant making it as memorable or unmemorable as she wanted. It might not be real in every sense of the word, but he figured knowing the Buffy he remembered, she would appreciate getting the chance to make it what she wanted.

Buffy, in turn, was surprised by Spike's response. She had expected that they would just go to Vegas, find a cheesy little chapel and be done with it. What was there to plan about that? Granted it wasn't exactly the way she had pictured her wedding, but then again, this wasn't real, so she guessed it didn't matter. Did it? She frowned slightly, thinking about it. The truth was, it was a wedding, and they were really getting married, even if it wasn't for forever. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to make it a little more personal. After all their friends would expect it wouldn't they? Spike noticed her frown and was worried, but before he could say anything she spoke.

"We're eloping, what exactly is there to plan?" she asked, echoing aloud her initial question. The whole point of eloping was to not have to plan anything, right?

"Well, there's the chapel, hotel, things to do while we're there." Buffy watched as Spike reached into the inner pocket of his duster and pulled out a small manila envelope. "Way I figure it; you won't want to be cooped up in a room the entire time we're there. Not that I planned for us to stay long," he said quickly. "I just figured this guy shouldn't know where we're headed, so we should get out and see some sights while we're there."

"Oh." Buffy hadn't thought of that. She had imagined it would just be a quick trip to and from Vegas and back to her normal life again. Well except it was never going to really be normal again. When they returned from Vegas they would be married. She would be moving into his house. That was very far from normal.

"Look, I printed off a few pamphlet thingy's from a few chapels, guessed you might want to take a look at 'em. I tried to stay away from anything related to Elvis." Spiked gave her a mischievous look. "That is unless you would prefer that."

Buffy's jaw nearly dropped. Was he teasing her? She shook her head and gave him a grateful smile. "I appreciate that. That just doesn't sound that appealing to me."

Spike laughed, inwardly happy that she hadn't voiced an interest in it. For the most part he hadn't believed she would be interested in that, he always had thought her fairly traditional, but a lot of things could have changed over the past two years.

"Also have a few things on some hotels and stuff we can do while we're there. You could probably take a look at the sightseein' stuff tomorrow, but I had wanted to get a hotel and chapel picked out tonight. I can call and make arrangements tomorrow." Spike slid a few more papers across the table to her.

"Okay," Buffy said slowly, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of information in front of her. Spike had apparently done a lot of research. He had information on over a half a dozen hotels and chapels. She looked intently over everything for a few minutes, and then looked up at Spike. He had been attentively watching her and he held her gaze for a few minutes before dropping his eyes to the table.

"What do you think?" she asked, curious about his wants and wishes.

"Whatever you want, pet", was his reply. Spike wanted her to be comfortable with the plan. He wanted it to be all about her, and letting her make the plans seemed to be the best way. He didn't care much for the details anyway. He just wanted to keep his girl safe. His girl, there was that phrase again. Did he really think of her as his girl? When it really came down to it, he supposed he did. He snapped back to attention when he realized that Buffy was speaking.

"Seriously, Spike, this is your wedding too. If we're going to go all out on making this look as real as possible, I think you should have some say in this too." Buffy told him. "You know, I can't believe you're really willing to do this, especially given…" her voice trailed off as she felt a sudden wave of insecurity hit her.

"Let's get this straight right now," Spike said reaching across the table to grasp one of her hands. "I am very happy doing this. I…I wanted this opportunity with you…to protect you."

Buffy felt her cheeks burn and she ducked her head to avoid the intensity of Spikes gaze. "I…thank you."

"For what?" she looked up to see a puzzled look on his face. His head tilted to the side as he watched her.

"For making me feel better about this." she squeezed his hand. Just the simple thought that he wanted to do this, that he cared about her safety made her feel better. The tiny spark of hope that perhaps they would get a second chance burned just a little brighter.

"You're welcome," he said gruffly, unsure of how to react to her gratitude, knowing that he wasn't being as honest with his role as he could be. "Now choose a chapel."

Buffy pulled her hand from his and quickly scanned through the pamphlets that he had given her. Finally she separated one from the rest and slid it across the table at him.

"What do you think of this one?"

"Tuscany Chapel," Spike mused, looking quickly over the pictures in the brochure. "Looks like a nice enough place. Simple, yet elegant."

"Did you just say elegant?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"Yeah, don't sound so surprised, Summers." Spike responded defensively. What was wrong with the fact that he thought it was elegant? It was! What had she expected him to say? "Fact is I think I remember looking at this one…yeah, I did."

Spike riffled through some of the papers in front of her and finally pulled one out and handed it to her. "'s part of a hotel. Would make it mighty convenient for us."

"It looks nice." Buffy said glancing briefly at the pamphlet. A thought suddenly crossed her mind. "Won't this be pretty expensive? I mean it's not like I can't afford it, but it just seems like it will be an awful lot of money for something that isn't real."

For some reason that comment struck Spike the wrong way. "Money isn't a problem, pet. It's already taken care of."

"I can't imagine that whoever came up with this plan is paying for all of this, Spike."

"They're not. I am. I want to do this, Buffy, so don't argue with me about it. You won't win." He said firmly ending the discussion.

"Fine," she said realizing that she might as well admit defeat and not ruin the evening by forcing an argument. They could do that another time. She looked down again at the paper in front of her. She loved the simplicity of the chapel, with its cream colors, tall columns and blue ceiling painted to look like the sky. It wasn't what she had imagined a chapel in Las Vegas would look like. It was almost as if they had transplanted some peaceful little village into the middle of the busy city. The hotel didn't look too bad either. It had a number of amenities, including a spa and restaurant. They wouldn't have to leave the hotel if they didn't want to.

"Great, I'll call tomorrow and see about availability. Now we just have one more small detail to suss out…well, actually two." Spike said gathering up the pamphlets and putting them back in the envelope. He stuck it back into his duster pocket reminding himself to give it to Buffy later on so she could look over the other pamphlets later.

"What?" Buffy asked. "We have a chapel, and a hotel. What more do we need?"

"For starters we need a wedding date." Spike informed her. "We can either get it over with right away, or wait 'til right before we come home. Granted a lot depends on what they have available, but still, figure I'd give you the option. Not like anybody will care if we do it at the beginnin' or end. Guess it really isn't a big deal, could just play it by ear." Spike moved around uncomfortably in his seat. Perhaps they should have just done things spur of the moment. Thinking about and planning a wedding with Buffy brought back a lot of memories that he had hoped to keep buried.

"Let's just get it over with. That way we don't have to worry about it. Putting it off won't change things. Maybe then we can enjoy the rest of our time there. Could we do it Friday? Or even Thursday night?" Buffy suggested.

"I'll see what I can schedule," Spike said relieved. "Last itty bitty detail- what kind of wedding would you like? They offer a number of options. Can have just about anyone marry you probably. I'm sure if you asked they could conjure up Elvis for you even."

Buffy laughed. "I thought we were staying away from Elvis?"

Spike ducked his head, blushing slightly. "Always an option."

"Would you want that?" she asked incredulously. Of all people, she would never have picked Spike to even consider it.

"If it would make you happy," all of a sudden her laughter died away as she realized that Spike was serious. If she wanted it, he would allow it, even if it wasn't what he wanted.

"Spike, what kind of wedding do you want? You are a part of this too." Buffy said softly watching as his eyes sparkled at the thought that she cared about what he wanted.

"I know there's nothin' traditional about this situation, but I thought a traditional ceremony seemed right somehow." He told her shyly. "Just doesn't seem right to wear jeans and a t-shirt to your wedding. I was kinda thinkin' me in a suit and you in some fancy dress of some sort. I know it isn't all supposed to real, but it should still be special."

"That sounds just about perfect," Buffy said agreeing with him. In fact it scared her how perfect it sounded. She wouldn't admit it right then, to him, but she had always dreamed of a small, simple wedding. She had never wanted something outlandish or large. "I guess I just need to pick out a dress."

"I'm sure you could find something there," Spike told her, thinking back to some of the brochures and sites he had visited when doing research for this plan. Vegas didn't seem like a bad place to get married. It had hotels, chapels, entertainment, shopping, gambling; what more could you need. "Then again you probably want to find something here."

"Of course." Buffy said distractedly, thinking about where she could go to find a dress. She was positive she had nothing in her own wardrobe currently that would be appropriate. "Tomorrows only Wednesday so I can do a little bit of shopping." She knew exactly what she wanted, now she only hoped she could find it. While this wasn't a traditional wedding, or a traditional marriage, she might as well enjoy the fantasy of it all for a little while. It couldn't hurt. Could it?

"Guess that just about takes care of things then," Spike told her.

"Just about? I thought we covered it all?" Buffy realized that there were probably a few things they hadn't covered. Like if they would be sharing a room. Which if she had to guess she would say they probably would need to. Or how they were going to handle her moving in with him. That was going to be an interesting conversation. One she was only too happy to put off for a while.

"Well, yeah. I was kinda hoping we could talk about other things. You know…just chat. 's something we haven't done in a long time."

"No," Buffy agreed, her voice soft. "We haven't."

"You want a refill?" he asked motioning to her now empty glass.

"Sure," Buffy was relieved to hand him the glass and watch as he walked towards the counter to refill their drinks. It gave her a chance to collect her thoughts. She thought about the many things she wanted to ask him as she watched him at the counter. She also pondered what she had just gotten herself into, or rather, what her crazy psychopath stalker had gotten her into. After all it was because of him they were running off to Vegas to get married.

"So, what can we talk about?" Spike asked sliding easily back down onto his chair while placing their drinks on the table.

"Whatever you want," Buffy replied, and instantly regretted it. There were some things she wasn't sure she was ready to discuss with him yet. Sure, they needed to get things out in the open between them, and talk about the past, but did it have to be tonight?

"Okay," Spike said slowly. "Then I have a question."

"Shoot." Buffy replied playing with her straw.

"Why don't you date?"

She was glad she hadn't taken a drink yet, because she was sure if she had it would have ended up all over the table, she was so surprised by his question. Of all the questions she could have thought up that he could ask that hadn't been one of them. Why would he care?

Spike, on the other hand, was completely calm. He had been curious about the fact for some time. Not that he minded that she didn't have a boyfriend, but he had imagined that since she had rocketed to skating stardom after her first win at Worlds and then the Olympics she would have had a whole slew of men lined up to date her. She deserved a good man. Someone who would care for her, support her, and help her. Life hadn't been easy the past few months, he knew that.

"I…I date," Buffy sputtered. "I guess I just haven't lately. Haven't really had the time. In fact I was out with someone just a couple months ago. Really nice guy…just not the right guy." She admitted, though her tone was slightly defensive. She didn't tell him that no guy had ever compared to him.

"Might be a little backwards, but once we get married I'll just have to make sure we go out on 'dates' often." Spike told her, he could see the surprise in her eyes. "So how are things with skating? Still busy with all the Olympic hype?"

"Nah, it's died down quite a bit. Kind of had to so I can get ready for the season this fall."

"You're gonna keep competing." He asked, genuinely surprised. He had heard rumors that she was considering quitting, and just move into coaching.

She swirled the straw around in her drink thoughtfully. "I haven't really decided yet. I've taken on a couple new students, and I really love coaching. I just don't know if I can quit competing. I'm not quite sure what I'd do. It's all I've known for so long. It's had me pretty worked up the past month or so." She admitted. It felt nice to be able to admit that to someone other than Willow. No one else knew how torn she was over her decision. Worked up wasn't quite the right way to put it. Driving herself crazy was probably closer to the truth. Time was running out for her to decide, and she wasn't anywhere near confident in what she wanted to do.

"You're great at coaching. Bet you could find a rink and run their skating programs even, if you wanted. You'd be good at it."

"Really?" Buffy asked, perking up at his obvious confidence in her abilities.

"Course I do." Spike knew that she could do whatever she set her mind to; she just needed to have a little more confidence in herself. She was confident when it came to competing, that was for sure. She had a passion for it. She just hadn't figured out yet how to move that passion into other things. Although her work for Giles at the rink was a good start, he had to admit.

"Thank you," she was truly grateful for the vote of confidence. Buffy suddenly had a burst of confidence and decided to tackle what she knew was going to be a difficult conversation. "Can I ask you something?"

"Certainly, sweetheart." She blushed a bit at the term of endearment.

To hell with waiting, she thought. Taking a deep breath she asked the question that had been burning in her mind for so long. "Why did you leave? And then why did you come back?"

Spike had been expecting that question. So why hadn't he thought of an answer? Well, he thought, the easy answer would be to tell her truth. But it wasn't quite that simple, he realized. How did you explain to the woman you love that you left because you loved her? That you left because you knew she deserved a better man. That you were afraid to put your heart on the line again after having it ripped out twice before. How did one explain all that? And explaining why he came back required an admission of his deeper involvement with this charade. He would tell her, just not tonight. Tonight he wanted to begin to repair the damage he knew he had caused.

He had been so quiet for so long that Buffy thought perhaps he was going to ignore her question, when all of a sudden she found both of her hands being held tightly by his.

"It's a long story, Buffy, and 'm just not ready to share right now." He said softly, imploring her with his eyes to understand.

"Oh," you could hear the disappointment in her voice, and he could see the hurt in her eyes.

"'m sorry, love." He knew she deserved to know, but he wasn't prepared for what it would mean for both of them.

"It's just," Buffy started then stopped speaking. She twisted her hands out of Spikes hold and put them safely in her life.

"It's just what, love?" he asked, instantly missing the feel of her hands in his.

"It's just, it hurt so much when you left, Spike. What did I do wrong?"

Spike closed his eyes, he wanted to smack himself in the head, of course she would think she did something wrong. She would carry the blame, not give it to him. Without really thinking he scooted his chair around the table and closer to hers. He reached into her lap and gasped her hands again.

"Buffy, you did nothing wrong" he told her. "I'm the one who was wrong. I shouldn't have left that way…I just…I just needed to go. You…you were bloody perfection, sweetheart. I promise soon we will sit down and I will answer any question you have and tell you everything that you want to know. But tonight…tonight I just want to forget about the past and…" Buffy silenced him with a finger to his lips.

"I understand," she said when he was quiet. "But I do want to know someday. I need to understand why."

Spike nodded and she put her hand back in her lap. He had released her other hand, but he didn't move his chair back around the table, instead he stayed close to her. They moved on to safer topics like hockey and her skating. Much to Buffy's surprise they talked for nearly two more hours. She hadn't expected to feel so at ease with him when she still hurt over his leaving. She hadn't really expected to feel so comfortable with him period. She had always been intimidated by her attraction to him in their previous relationship, never knowing exactly what to say. Sure they had talked…a lot… but never so comfortably. When he had returned a few months ago she hadn't known what to say, and he had rarely said a word to her. As time moved on she had figured silence was perhaps best. Now, she felt relieved to know that perhaps he hadn't left solely because of her. Judging by the way he was acting now, and talking to her, he wanted to be there with her. He wanted to talk to her. Perhaps the past few months instead of ignoring her because he didn't want her, he, like her, just hadn't known what to say.

"We should get you home," Spike said as Buffy stifled a yawn. She nodded, hating to admit that she was tired. She wanted to keep talking, but she was getting quite sleepy. She snuck a look at her watch and realized it was nearly 3 AM! Spike had already stood, put on his duster and was holding out his hand to her. Grabbing her purse Buffy stood, took his offered hand and together they walked hand in hand out to his Jeep. They were both quiet as Spike drove back to the rink. He pulled his car up right next to her own Jeep and she quickly jumped out fishing for her keys in her purse. Spike climbed out of his car as well and met her at her door.

"Thank you for all of this," Buffy said turning to face him and leaning back against her car.

"'s my pleasure, love," he replied stepping closer to her. Buffy looked up at him nervously as he stepped close enough to touch her. "Why don't you stop by around lunch tomorrow? We can grab a bite and then I can show you the house."

Buffy nodded nervously, not trusting her voice. The idea of living with him still filled her with a mix of excitement and fear.

"I had a good time tonight, pet." Spike told her, his voice husky, as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. How he had missed the feel of her hair in his hands, so soft and silky.

"So did I," Buffy barely had time to get her response out before Spike swooped down and captured her lips with his own. The kiss was gentle at first, his lips pressed softly against her own. Buffy responded timidly, surprised by his kiss. She whimpered slightly when his tongue flicked out and teased her lips, begging for entry to her mouth, which she gladly gave. Spikes hands suddenly gripped her hips tighter and pulled her closer, pressing his now obvious erection against her. Buffy could feel his hardness against her, the light fabric of his slacks not hiding much. Unable to stop herself she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and pulled him in closer, as their tongues dueled. Finally needing to breath Spike pulled away slightly and began placing soft kisses down her jaw, while Buffy drew in a much needed breath.

"I've missed doing that," Spike admitted softly, pressing a final kiss just below her ear before pulling back to look at her. Buffy's face was flushed with excitement and desire. She hadn't forgotten what it felt like to be kissed by Spike, but for some reason this was different…more intense.

"Really," she breathed then ducked her head in embarrassment. The moment Spike had taken her into his arms the past two years seemed to just fade away, until now, when the doubt and insecurities suddenly overwhelmed her again. Spike hooked a finger under her chin and brought her head up so she would look him in the eye.

"Really, pet. I've missed you. I know there's so much we need to talk about," he sighed heavily. "Now's just not the time. We both need to get some rest. No need for you to be nodding off at the wheel on your way home, and Giles would have my hide if I nod off at work tomorrow."

Buffy stifled another yawn and realized he was right. His kiss had made a shot of adrenaline rush through her body, but that wouldn't last long. "True. I guess with all that's going one we will have plenty of time to talk." She admitted knowing that once they were married they would probably be spending a lot of time together.

"We will, I promise."

"See you at lunch tomorrow, then?" she said looking up at him, smiling when she saw his eyes were dark and dusky.

"Count on it," he said reluctantly releasing her with a quick kiss to her forehead. He stepped back so she could get in her car. With a quick wave she started her car up and headed home. Spike got back into his own car and threw his head back against the headrest taking in a deep breath. He couldn't believe how well things had gone. They had talked like old friends, and when he had kissed her she kissed him back. Closing his eyes he conjured up a picture of the way she looked all flushed from his kiss. God, he had missed her. She was going to be the death of him. He was sure of it.

Back at her apartment Buffy went directly to her room, changed and crawled into bed. Her heart was still beating fast as she thought about the way she had felt when Spike kissed her. The feeling of security and comfort that she felt in his arms overwhelmed her. It was almost as if suddenly the past two years had never happened, like he had never left. As tired as she was, she had difficulty getting to sleep. The events of the last few hours playing over and over in her mind, running nonstop, and making sleep near impossible. She finally drifted off into slumber, dreaming of her Spike. He was back, and she was going to have a second chance. Of that she was absolutely certain.





You must login (register) to review.