Buffy and Spike were standing on her front lawn, kissing and loving the way they'd wanted to for so long. Spike was such a good kisser, he kissed with every ounce of passion and love he had in his body, which was a considerable amount. Buffy never wanted another man's lips to touch hers again, only Spike's.

Buffy pulled back and grinned at him. She caressed his angular face. Spike smiled and turned his head slightly, placing a soft kiss to her palm. He rubbed his cheekbone against her hand like a cat might.

"You gonna purr for me," Buffy asked playfully.

"Mmm, if you're good...." He smirked.

"Oh, I'm very good..."

They chuckled then leaned in for a more tender kiss.

Buffy pulled away again then opened her mouth to say, 'I love you, Spike,' when the pointy end of a stake burst from his chest; he grunted and stumbled forward.

Buffy gasped, her face freezing in horror. Spike looked down in shock at his chest then up into her eyes. His expressive face showed pain and surprise.

"NO! Buffy!" Spike reached for her desperately, wanting to hold her one last time.

He exploded into a dense cloud of dust before he could reach her.

"SPIKE! NO! PLEASE, NO!" Buffy fell to her knees, weeping and scooping up piles of what had been Spike, and holding it to her chest.

She heard laughing. Gritting her teeth, she looked up slowly through her tears to see Warren laughing uproariously.

"Aww, what's the matter, Buffy? Did your dead boyfriend go *poof*?"

Warren morphed into Glory.

"What a shame!" Glory said in mock horror. "And you never did tell him you loved him, did you?" she tsk'ed. "How very tragic!"

Glory morphed into Spike.

He sneered at her. "I have no idea why some baddie hasn't taken you down sooner, Slayer. You're bloody clueless. It's too late now, luv. You waited too long!" the First/Spike laughed wickedly then disappeared.

Buffy sobbed and looked at the dust in her hands, it drifted to the ground through her fingers.

"Spike...you promised you wouldn't leave me! Please don't leave me! I love you!" Buffy wailed....


Buffy jolted upright in bed gasping for breath.

It took her a moment to realize that she had been having a nightmare. She wiped the tears from her wet face. It had seemed so real...

"Buffy, are you okay?" Vi asked from her sleeping bag on the floor.

"Yeah, just had a bad dream..."

Buffy's stomach was in knots, her heart still pounded vigorously in her chest. Although she was relieved that it hadn't been real, she knew that some of her dreams and nightmares (especially the nightmares) had a tendency to come true.

"You want some water or something?" another SIT asked.

"No. No, thanks." Buffy had to go to him.

She had to make sure that he was alright. She threw the covers off of her and got out of bed.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Earlier that evening…

Spike was going to his room in the motel, happy to be away from the house o' teenagers. Finally, he'd be able to get some rest.

A woman was up ahead of him, facing away from him on her knees. She had dropped some bags and was frantically trying to pick everything up.

Spike intended to walk right past her without stopping...but his conscience nagged at him. Helping her was the right thing to do; some nasty creature might take advantage of the situation and attack her.

Spike sighed. 'Bloody soul...'

He shook his head then picked up a few magazines that she'd dropped.

"Here, Miss," Spike said.

"Thanks," she said.

The woman whipped around suddenly, her vampire visage on, her fangs glistening in the dim light.

"RAAAAA!" She lunged at him.

"Shit!" Spike jumped backwards, dropping the magazines.

"Spike?" Harmony asked, her human features slipping back into place.

"Harm? What the bloody hell are you doing here? You scared me to --You bloody well scared the shit out of me!"

'What is she doing back in town? That's all I bloody need...' Spike thought.

Harmony effected a haughty air. "I was trying to get someone to eat, hello? I thought you were a regular guy."

"Well, go hunt somewhere else tonight, would you?" Spike moved past her and continued to his room.

Harmony picked up her bag and followed him. Spike turned around and looked at her.

"What do you want?" he asked with a sigh.

"Umm...can I...stay with you tonight? I don't have anywhere else to go." She batted her eyelashes.

"What? Last time we saw each other you tried to kill me! Remember? You gave me the whole 'You never get to see my ass again' speech?"

"That's in the past. I forgave you for staking me! And for cheating on me too! Come on, Spike, please? Some weird stuff is happening, I'm getting out of town tomorrow. But...I don't want to be by myself for once. I hate being alone..." Harmony hung her head.

Spike cursed his soul for the millionth time. He knew what it was like to be utterly alone. He took a deep breath.

"Alright, but don't make me regret my kindness, yeah?"

Harmony smiled brilliantly. "Thanks, Spike."

She skipped to catch up with him. "Which room is ours?"

"13," Spike said tiredly.

"Here it is." Harmony stopped in front of the door.

Spike unlocked it and stepped in.

Harmony closed her eyes and shuddered slightly as he walked past her; he always smelled soooo good. She had no idea what his secret was. When they lived together, she'd searched high and low in the crypt for whatever it was that Spike used to smell so delicious, but she came up empty. She finally decided that it must be something he exudes naturally, his own natural musk. It drove her crazy with desire.

Spike tossed the keys on the dresser.

"I need to talk to the bloke who runs the place, I'll be back." He went back out and headed for the office.

Harmony walked in and looked around. It was a crappy motel, but it was better than a musty old crypt. At least there was a bed.

She sat down and bounced up and down on the mattress a few times. The springs squeaked. It was nice and bouncy. An image of Spike screwing into the mattress popped up in her brain -- his strong, broad back glistening with sweat, his face having that yummy look of concentration and pleasure, the springs loudly protesting their vigorous lovemaking...

"Why the hell not?" Harmony asked the empty room then shrugged. "It's been too long since I got some Blondie Bear lovin'. I should thank him for letting me stay here...it's only polite."

Spike re-entered the room. He looked around and spied a big chair in the corner. He thought of telling her to sleep in the chair, but that damnable conscience piped up again, reminding him that he had been a gentleman at one time. What would his sainted mother say if she knew he had let a lady (he supposed Harm qualified as a lady) sleep in a chair while he took the bed? He sighed and sat down trying to get comfortable.

"What are you doing?" Harmony asked, her blonde brows creasing.

"Going to sleep. Give me a pillow." He reached his hand out, waiting for her to comply.

"Don't you want to sleep on the bed?" She frowned.

"You can have it," Spike grumbled.

"I thought...we were going to... like...share?"

"No, that wouldn't be...a good idea."

"You want to have sex?" Harmony asked frankly.

His eyes widened for a moment. "No...just sleep."

"What's wrong, Spike? You never turned down sex before. Are you okay?"

"Nothing's...wrong. I just don't feel like it."

"Don't you think I'm pretty anymore?" Her chin quivered.

Spike rolled his eyes. "You're pretty, you're beautiful. It doesn't have anything to do with how you look."

"But," Harmony got up and slunk over to him, "I want to thank you for giving me a place to stay," she said huskily. "I'm soooo horny, Spikey." She palmed her breasts and licked her lips.

Spike gulped. "No, Harm. Just sleeping. N-No sex."

Harmony stomped her foot, her seductive demeanor falling away quickly; she was back in 'spoiled brat' mode. "Why not!?"

"Will you just bloody drop it?! I want to get some sleep."

Spike turned away from her and tried to get comfortable. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, hoping that she'd give up easily.

"Well...phooey on you! I didn't want to have sex with you anyway," she 'hmmphed'. "I'm going out hunting, you want me to bring you back something still warm and quivery?"

Spike sat up. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

Spike sighed and stood. "Don't go hunting. I'll get you some blood."

"Ewww! I'm not drinking that gross pig blood! Forget it!" She crossed her arms and gave him a defiant glare.

"You drink it or you can find somewhere else to stay," Spike said, looking her in the eye.

"You're different," Harmony said, squinting at him. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing!" Spike said nervously.

He didn't want her to know about the soul, she would never understand. Spike grabbed his duster.

"I'll be back soon. Stay here."

He left the room.

Harmony sat down on the bed. Spike was different -- more of a goody-goody. He'd been hanging around that stupid Buffy and the Goonies too long. The fact that he turned her down for sex made her even hotter and hornier for him. She hadn't expected him to say no.

She smiled. He'd give in, she just had to be persistent. Harmony shed her clothing except for her purple satin bra and panties, then laid on the bed trying to decide which pose she could strike that would be most alluring. She slipped one of her bra straps over her shoulder and practiced enticing him.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After Buffy dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, she crept into Willow's room.

"Willow?" she whispered.

Willow rolled over. "Buffy?" She came awake instantly. "What's wrong?" Willow was worried -- it looked like Buffy had been crying.

"I have to go out for awhile. Keep an eye on the house, okay?" Buffy said.

"Where are you going?"

"Spike... I'm going to the motel he's staying at. I had a bad dream...and I have to check to see that he's alright."

"Buffy...you care about him a lot, don't you?" Willow asked gently. She'd seen her friend in love before; she knew the signs.

Buffy nodded. "I do. I think -- no... I know that I love him."

"I know," Willow stated simply.

"How...do you know?"

"I have eyes. And ears too!" Willow chuckled. "The 'why do people think I'm still in love with Spike' thing was a dead giveaway."

Buffy smiled sheepishly, she'd let that one slip without realizing it until a few minutes after she'd said it.

Willow continued, "The sparks the two of you make could start a brush fire. Stay away from wooded areas, just to be safe."

"I fought my feelings for him for so long... You know what the really dumb part is?"

Willow shook her head no.

"It took me hearing about what shall forever be referred to as 'the shower incident' for it to hit me. That's when I knew. Isn't that crazy?"

"I heard about that." Willow tried not to smile. "Poor Spike, that must have been super embarrassing. Sure it's weird that Spike being caught masturbating in the shower made you realize you loved him, but hey, this is Sunnydale, the home of weird. Nothing that happens in this town surprises me anymore."

Willow hugged Buffy.

"Go on. Go check on him. You deserve to be happy. Both of you do," Willow said.

Who knew how much time any of them had? They might not make it through this war with the First. Life was too short for what if's and should have's. Willow, for one, wouldn't deny her best friend a crumb of happiness.

"Thanks, Wills." Buffy sniffled.

"I'll watch the kids," Willow said.

Buffy went quickly downstairs and out the front door.

"Where's she going?" Amanda whispered.

"I bet I know..." Andrew said dreamily, snuggling down into his sleeping bag.

He imagined it....

A grand and glorious reunion between Buffy and Spike: Running from opposite sides of a field of wild flowers in full bloom; their arms out. They meet in the middle of the field and embrace. Spike picks up Buffy and spins her in a circle; elated, toothy grins on their faces.

Oh! And they're dressed like characters on the cover of one of those romance novels that...his mom likes...he doesn't read them...no sirree-bob...those are for girls.

Anyway, Buffy's wearing a long, billowy, blue -- no -- make that a green dress, to match her eyes. The bodice laces up the front, a green silk ribbon forms a bow just under her bountiful cleavage. Her blonde windswept hair is flowing over her shoulders.

Spike is wearing a sheer, white cotton shirt (like a pirate!), it hangs open exposing his muscled chest and abs; the material waves and flaps as the breeze blows through it. Tight black pants mold themselves to his lower body. A pair of black knee high boots complete his ruggedly handsome look.

Spike buries his face in Buffy's heaving bosom, kissing and bathing her with his long pink tongue. Buffy gasps in pleasure. Her hand explores his muscular chest then move down below his waist; she cups his huge, throbbing --


"Andrew, what are you doing in there?" Amanda asked.

"Um...nothing..." Andrew ducked inside his sleeping bag and zipped it over his head to continue his 'musings' in private.





You must login (register) to review.