this is one of my all-time faves....PLEASE PLEASE continue?

Best story ever please write more :)

I love the spin you have taken on the canon story. All if Buffy never slept with Angel. And I think everyone really loves the more in control and stonger Buffy. Keep up the good work and update soon :D

I'm so glad you're back. I was praying this story wasn't going to be one of the fics that never get completed. It's too bloody brilliant!

Glad to see you updating like you've said you would :)
*crosses fingers we're back in the game*

At last Buffy is lucky not to sleep with Parker; we know how many times he would have called her afterwards. So I don't wonder why he didn't call her now.

Did Spike kill Harmony? I've skipped the previous chapter, Buffy didn't kill her then. (Because Harm is gone now.)

Good fight; the end was unexpected for Spike. I wonder if Buffy will keep the ring now; she isn't so near to Angel in this story if I remember right.
Buffy stayed calm when Spike tried to get her angry; when he himself would have stayed calm who knows how the outcome of the fight would have been.

~ Looking forward to more :)

Yeah, really liking insightful Buffy. Her reason for not being with Angel? Wow, if only ShowBuffy! had been this aware.

The way you've written Buffy in this story is wonderful. I love how insightful you've made her, especially as reflected in the beginning of this chapter.

And the interaction between Buffy and Spike. This is a nifty take on Lover's Walk.

I am really enjoying this story. I love how you are not making Buffy and Spike fall head over heels in love with each other too quickly. I feel that your story is a realistic direction that the characters could have taken on the show. Well done!

GREAT fic, and I can't wait to read the next part! Will Buffy sleep with Parker and have a night and sleazeball human to compare to Spike? And I really want to see the confrontation being promised, makes me think of the heavy UST and teasing by FAith-in-Buffy's-Body in Who Are You?. They haven't actually fought against the other since Spike pinned Buffy to the fridge in her own house for a millisecond right after getting healed, and you know I was egging on a conflict that could heat up with delicious S&M undertones!
Man, please update soon!!

Just finished reading this entire fic, and glad I took a look at it! How Buffy is dealing with Angel was something I really liked, especially Spike admiring her a bit, and the idea that she was crushing on him a little, even without realizing it, instead of him being the only one thinking of them not just as hate-filled enemies is shown very well.

PLEASE don't have her sleep with Parker! That slimy toad doesn't deserve to touch her, never mind if she just wants the experience of a one-night stand and it won't hurt her feelings too much. It would change who Buffy is too much to have her be OK going through with casual sex. She thought the first time with Angel on the show was supposed to be special and wonderful and romantic and saved for someone you love, and now she's shrugging it off almost becuase she's bored!

I'm really looking forward to Spike and Buffy trading blows later on, and see their reactions to the fight! Write on and update quick please!!

look foward to the revised gem fight

Oh, that was just awesome. I wasn't expecting him to hug her, but oh that was so right.

Wow. Just wow. Intense. Great characterization. Each scene and chapter flow seamlessly. I love it and I can't wait to read the next chapter. Just a couple items of note, however.

1. Watch your tenses. You do well with keeping it in past tense/third person view, but occasionally you slip into present tense, and that disrupts the flow of the story more than you realise.
2. Watch the spellings of words, especially the four that seem most confused in many works. Than, then, affect, effect, to, too, they're, there, their. You have many instances where you've used the wrong form of these words. Careful.
3. Punctuation. Periods, exclamation points and question marks are all well and good, but you need commas. Yes, I'm a comma queen, but you have almost none. They break the sentences up so that they are more what they should be instead of how they appear when you don't have any.

"Buffy stared into his blue eyes, eyes she knew could see down to her depths and watched the subtle sparks of joy that infused his gaze. His laughter aside he seemed different to her than he had been all night and wondered briefly about the change before squishing the thought out of her mind."

How about this?

Buffy stared into his blue eyes, eyes she knew could see down to her depths, and watched the subtle sparks of joy that infused his gaze. His laughter aside, he seemed different to her than he had been all night, and she wondered briefly about the change before squishing the thought out of her mind.

I hope that was constructive and not coming across as bitchy, because as I said, I do love the story. I truly cannot wait for more to read. Perhaps a Beta reader who is as inclined to grammar as I am? Hmm.. 'tis a thought.

CT.