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February came into California bringing a cold wind like they’d never felt before. It didn't seem to faze the demon population as they continued to wreak havoc on a not so sunny Sunnydale. Kept the Scooby gang and the slayer on their toes, constantly. Didn't mean they never had time for one another. The month of love had its icy grip on all of the subsequent couples in the gang. Xander and Anya were actually dating again, promising each other not to rush into anything life altering.

Willow had met a fellow witch. Actually, the wiccans had run into one another, both trying to help a lost little girl when she was cornered by a nasty demon. Megan was a tiny sprite, but had a lot of magical powers up her sleeve. The two spent a lot of time together and she slowly became one of the gang.

Spike still pursued Buffy, but never overdoing it and never pushing her. He stood by, waiting patiently, enjoying the time he spent with her, fighting alongside her, talking with her, and playing with her. (Playing in the general sense of the teasing and the joking type of play.) He was becoming frustrated though, for as long as they'd been with one another since he came back with the soul, he had not even kissed her. Sure there was the touching, the hugging, the nuzzling and the hand holding. A guy, or a vampire, can only hold out for so long though and it was wearing on him. He vowed that he would wait though, and wait he did.

On one particularly frigid and damp night, the group set out to locate a cliff dwelling demon or possibly a nest of them. There had been a few attacks around the pier which had left one human dead and another maimed. The description the injured person had given them clearly matched the cliff demon they found in their research materials.

By the time they reached their destination, the light drizzle had everyone soaked to the bone. Buffy thought they all looked like they just went swimming in very icy water but then she caught herself staring at Spike, who out of all of them looked quite nice all soaking wet. The freezing drizzle didn't seem to bother him one bit.

It didn't take long for the monsters they were tracking to come out and play. Only two of them, that was of the good, but they were massive in size. Hopefully that made them slower. Nope, was wrong on that account. The largest one zipped over towards Xander, Giles and the girls, while Buffy and Spike took the smaller of the two. The two warriors thrashed the demon, weakening it but Buffy noticed the others were not fairing as well. Even the witches’ magic had no effect on it whatsoever. She asked Spike if he could handle finishing the demon they were fighting and he waved his affirmation to her.

Buffy launched her attack but was surprised as she found herself in as much trouble as the others when she realized her body did not respond well when in was nearly frozen. The demon had pulled a large, pointed, wooden jousting stick out of nowhere and he used it to probe and push the humans into a huddled mass and edging them closer to the cliff's drop-off. Xander peered over and tried to calmly announce that they were in deep; the cliff was at least 25 foot up from a rocky bottom.

Out of nowhere, a bleached blonde blur zipped by them, taking the very large demon with him. He seemed to have a good grip on it when the stupid thing lurched around trying to dust Spike with its weapon. The sudden movement caused both of them to topple over the steep edge. There were gasps and outcries as both the demon and the vampire yelled out their final warrior cry. Buffy dropped to her knees, sobbing. Xander was the only one brave enough to look over and he saw the demon but not the vampire.

"Do you think the demon dusted him before he hit the ground?" Dawn sobbed hysterically.

After a while, they all stood in a group huddle, facing the cliff that looked out over the ocean, paying their last respects for a brave warrior who fought to the very end. Every one of them was crying and even Xander had a sniffle or two.

"What's all this moaning and groaning bout here? You're all blubbering like someone died."

Dawn swiftly ran and threw herself into the very muddy arms of the vampire as the rest of the gang, sans Buffy, quickly shuffled over to him as well. He received slaps on the back, neck squeezes, arm rubs, hugs, and even a hair tousle.

"Well, if I knew how much concern you all would have for my undead life, I would have gotten myself dusted a long time ago." The whole group laughed along with the vampire.

Buffy stood rooted in the same spot, watching the festive homecoming, arms crossed in front of her, no expression at all on her face. Finally they noticed she was not joining in and they stepped away from Spike. He walked towards her slowly and stopped a few paces from where she remained rooted.

"You're killing me here, Slayer." he said sheepishly.

"That's my job, get used to it," she ground out.

He spread his arms out to her but she turned her head away and he noticed, in spite of the rain, tears were running down her face.

"Buffy, I survived the fall off the platform a few years back, a fall like this wouldn't do me in. Besides I grabbed onto a ledge on my way down. Had to walk around it til I found some good climbing rocks to make my way up. I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere."

She came at him, fists flying blindly, thumping his chest hard yet weakening with every hit. Her sobbing was wild and uncontrolled.

"Don't you ever die on me, ever like that again. Or else I'll…I'll stake you good and proper, you hear?"

He wrapped her up in his arms and held her but she quickly pulled away from him, staring deeply into his bright blue eyes. She rushed at him again, this time sliding her hands behind his head and pulling him into a deep, searing kiss that made time stand still. The gang, after a second or two of complete astonishment, turned away and began conversing between each other. The kiss lasted forever and when they slowly pulled back from one another, leaning foreheads together, Spike chuckled softly.

"Do I get this treatment after every time I supposedly die? Cause if I do…"

Buffy whacked him hard on the arm. "Don't joke about it, please."

"Alright, luv. No more jokes about death. I promise. Kiss on it?"

She glared at him even as they resumed the smoochies until both clearly felt the presence of someone standing close by, someone who was clearing his throat and making a general nuisance of himself.

"Um, sorry to interrupt the kissage-fest, but we're wet, sore, tired and hungry and we wanna go home." Xander stood there shivering next to them.

"Harris, you whine. Has anyone ever told you that?" Spike was perturbed that the grand moment had been interrupted.

"Everyday of my life." He grinned even while his teeth were chattering and cold rain ran down in streams.

"Well, then, you got your quota in for the day. Let's go home then."

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The following Saturday, Buffy's house was buzzing. Everyone was there, enjoying the festivities that were brought about by the Summers' women. They all knew why they were there celebrating, that is all except for Spike. Dawn had secretly gone behind Spike's back and found out when his, or rather William's original birthdate was; February 25. It was the 23rd but this was the only night that everyone was free to come over and celebrate his special day.

It was odd when Buffy and Dawn took him by the arms and led him to the chair in the center of the room. One by one they took turns and executed their very own speeches to him filled with praises and good wishes. Buffy swore he was blushing if vampire’s could blush. When everyone was finished, Buffy presented him with a very large wrapped box. He looked at her in disbelief.


"What's this then?" he stared at the colorfully papered box.

"Happy Birthday, Spike." "Yeah, happy birthday." "Cheers." "Best wishes." They all chimed in.

"Birthday?" he mumbled as he slowly started in on the wrapping paper. Without warning, he began to rip through it, throwing the lid off in one felled swoop. He picked the item up and stood, the other half of the box sliding down to the floor.

"For once, he's speechless," Xander joked. They all chuckled.

"I…I don't know what to say."

"Try it on," Dawn tried to contain her excitement as Spike slipped on the luxurious leather coat that every single scooby member had chipped in and bought for him. It wasn't anything like his duster, but he could get very attached to it, he thought. He looked at the gazing party goers and smiled while running his hands over the smooth material.

"Thanks. Really, you shouldn't have but thanks."

Later, while everyone mingled with each other, Buffy noticed Spike walk out the back door. She excused herself and went in search of him, finding him only at the edge of the porch, sitting. She sat next to him trying to get a feel of his emotions. Was he crying?

"Spike, are you alright? Are you upset?"

He turned and looked at her, blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He reached up and laid his hand along her cheek.

"Happy. Just happy for the first time in a long time.

TBC

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