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Chapter Twenty-Three

After his confusing encounter with Drusilla the previous night, Spike drank until he’d passed out. He’d woken early that morning in an upright position on the couch feeling the effects of the alcohol tenfold.

It had been hard to get off the couch. Not only because he was stiff from sleeping in that position all night, but because he knew he had to go to work and face Buffy’s father. Even though his boss didn’t know of Spike’s relationship with his daughter, Spike knew he would feel guilty in his presence.

Buffy wasn’t accustomed to sharing details about her personal life with her father, so it had been natural for her not to keep him informed on her newest relationship. Spike, on the other hand, knew they would eventually have to fill Hank in on their sordid past and had been mentally preparing himself ever since his reunion with Buffy. He hoped he still had a job once that conversation took place.

That wasn’t the only reason Spike was feeling guilty. Last night he’d almost made the biggest mistake of his life. He’d let Drusilla get as far as unbuttoning his pants before he’d kicked her out, demanding she leave her key. Knowing how crazy she is, she probably had a replica made which was why his landlord was having his locks changed that day. Any doubts he had last night were gone, and he wanted her out of his life permanently.

That didn’t mean things were resolved between himself and Buffy. After their fight over Drusilla in Florida, Spike knew he’d have to tell Buffy about Drusilla’s attempted seduction. This was just another problem to add onto the list.

Hoping to get some work done, he steered his mind away from the woman in his life to a bright yellow folder laying on his desk. Inside were cases Angel had taken care of in his absence, and a post-it displaying a note from Hank to meet with him in his office as soon as Spike had looked over the files. Spike sighed, determined to take his time before he had to face his boss.

Spike nervously fingered the folder as he sat in Hank’s office waiting for him to finish a meeting with investors. He knew he was being ridiculous, his fear that Buffy had broken the silence between her and her father to complain about him unrealistic, but he couldn’t help himself. The stress of his situation had brought him to these feelings of insecurity and he hated it.

He stood, hoping to ease the tension from his body. Glancing around the office as he started pacing, Spike noticed that Hank’s office was very impersonal. Spike respected his boss, with the exception for his various infidelities, and aspired to someday have all that Hank possessed-a family, a successful law firm, and the means to allow his loved ones a comfortable life style.

Giving the office a second look, Spike noticed how empty it looked. He expected to find pictures of Buffy, Dawn and Sarah on his desk, but it was empty except for a calendar and numerous post-it notes. The realization that Hank didn’t value his family caused Spike to frown. He’d known it, of course, all along but had never thought that his life could end up as empty as Hank’s seemed to be.

"William?" Hank called to him, breaking through his thoughts.

Spike looked up, finally noticing his boss who’d been in the office for quite a few moments before the blonde had noticed.

"Are you alright?" Hank asked.

"Sorry, just lost in thought," he replied waiting for Hank to take a seat behind the desk, before taking a seat himself.



Buffy looked up from her homework, interrupted by the playful shrieks from her four year old. She was sitting at a picnic table at the park across the street from her apartment building, trying to finish her schoolwork so she could enjoy a quiet night at home. Dawn was keeping Sarah busy in the sandbox, helping her niece build a sand castle that seemed to never get any higher than the little girl.

Knowing that she should really be concentrating on her work, Buffy looked back down. The nagging voice in the back of her mind reminded her that she hadn’t fully concentrated on anything in the week since Spike had returned to L.A. That first afternoon, before her sister came home from school, Buffy sobbed in her room at the unfairness of it all. Finally, when things were so close to working out between her and Spike, another obstacle was placed between them.

After that day, her mind had always been on Spike. Everywhere she went she thought she saw him, hoping he was there to tell her everything would work out between them. He told her he would figure something out, and she believed he would try to but some things just weren’t meant to be. It would hurt a lot less for them to figure that detail out now, rather than farther down the road. Who was she kidding? It was going to hurt just as much either way, but she knew she’d be able to move on like she’d had to before. She just didn’t want to move on without him.

A loud truck passed by, interrupting her thoughts and bringing her eyes to the street. Her eyes opened wide as the truck passed, revealing the front of her building. At first she thought he was another one of her hallucinations. But there was no mistaking him this time, his stance was too familiar to be anyone else.

A smile graced her lips, genuine for the first time in days. He was holding a bouquet of flowers and his head was down, it looked as if he were practicing a speech he’d prepared.

Forgetting about her work spread out on the table top, and knowing Dawn could watch Sarah, Buffy climbed out of her seat and started walking across the street. Her pace quickened with every step as she neared her destination.

"Spike?" she called quietly from behind him.

Spike looked up, caught off guard. He’d been going over everything he wanted to say to her and suddenly she was standing behind him. He took a deep breath and turned around. At the sight of her, every word he’d practiced the entire plane journey there left his brain.

"What are you doing here?" she asked eventually when he remained silent.

Spike looked down at the arrangement in his hand. "Brought you flowers," he said thrusting the bouquet at her.

Buffy smiled at him, not sure what to think of their awkwardness around each other. "Thanks," she replied, accepting the beautiful gift.

Spike cleared his throat, fighting to remember anything he’d wanted to tell her. "We need to talk."

Buffy suddenly didn’t like where this was going. "So talk," she responded simply, not caring that he obviously wanted to go somewhere more private.

"Right." Spike nodded, still trying to steady himself. He was a lawyer for God’s sake! He was supposed to be good at talking to people. But then again, Buffy wasn’t people. "I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about us," he started. He hurried when Buffy crossed her arms across her chest. "I’ve talked to Hank about us-"

"You what!?"

"Let me finish, pet," Spike pleaded, taking a deep breath. "I’ve talked to Hank, and he knows everything now." Buffy raised an eyebrow, curious at her father’s reaction. "He wasn’t very happy with you, but I gave him the watered down version of the story." Spike paused. "I also told him that I’d have to put in my two weeks notice since I’d be moving soon."

Buffy couldn’t believe her ears. "You’re what?"

Spike chuckled. "Don’t tell me you don’t want me anymore, love, quitting my job isn’t something I do for everyone."

His response was Buffy throwing herself in his arms, peppering kisses all over his face. "Don’t worry," she assured him when she pulled back. "We’ll find you work down here, I’m sure there’s plenty of firms that need lawyers."

"Actually, there are," he agreed. "But Hank’s sending me down with a full staff, so that won’t be necessary."

Spike didn’t think her eyes could get any wider before they fell right out of their sockets. "He did what? He gave you your own firm? This is amazing!" she said, slightly dazed at all the news she’d been given in a matter of minutes.

"Well, technically I’m just managing the firm. You’re father owns it until we get married," he told her nonchalantly.

"Until we’re what?" she repeated, hating herself for sounding so simple, but she couldn’t quite comprehend all she was being told. She turned her head at the sound of her daughter’s squeals to see Dawn pushing Sarah on the swings. They appeared oblivious to the exchange across the street, but Buffy knew Dawn was watching every minute of it.

When Buffy turned back around, Spike was gone. She almost cried out, believing for a moment that it had all been a dream, too good to be true. Then she heard Spike clear his throat, and looked down to see him on one knee before her.

"Buffy, I’ve known for quite some time that you’re the woman I want to marry. I want spend the rest of my life with you." He took the ring out of the box it was nestled inside. "I love you. Will you marry me?"

Spike watched her, as she bowed her head slightly. He silently cursed himself for proposing out of nowhere, he’d never considered that she wasn’t ready for such a big step. The seconds seemed agonizingly slow as he waited for her rejection.

Finally, she looked up at him. She eyes were somewhat watery, but he couldn’t tell if where they stemmed from. And then his heart started racing as she began to nod her head.

"Yes!" she exclaimed after reassuring herself that Spike was really proposing to her. "Of course, I’ll marry you Spike."

Spike beamed, placing the ring on her finger before embracing her tightly. He kissed her as Dawn and Sarah came rushing over towards them. Finally, everything seemed right with them.


Author's Note: That's the end. I'm sad to see it end, but also happy to have finished my first fic! Please let me know what you thought (don't be too hard on me, though). I tried to make it a happy ending, but not too sappy or disgusting. As always, a big thank you to the reviewers-it means a lot to see that people liked my story, and also a HUGE thank you to my beta victoria who was awesome at editing this story.





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