Author's Chapter Notes:
Okay, so just one (or two) more chapters and an epilogue left after this depending on how I do things...(not counting the sequel-y things, of course)...and I'm really, really, really going to try to have the new story ready to start posting either this Saturday or next Tuesday.....,hopefully this will all post right, my internet seems to be playing hide and seek with me due to the thunderstorm ;)
Chapter 51

Things were going really well for Buffy and Spike; they had been dating for about six weeks and it had been about two weeks since their talk about school....Also known as the night of the thing Buffy needed a new word for.

Giles still wasn't one hundred percent comfortable with the two of them living together and had gotten rather upset when told that they were now in a relationship of the not so platonic variety. But he'd kept his opinions mostly to himself after his wife, Joyce informed him that what she said about how she would choose Buffy (and by extension William) over him if he was a problem, still stood.

He would still hurl thinly veiled insults at Spike and try to tear him down as much as he could. Neither Spike nor Buffy—who was glad that Spike had told her what was happening—told Joyce about it, hoping that he would move past his anger on his own. It wasn't looking all that likely though as it had been months.

At least, Buffy had decided, it wasn't causing the problems for William like it had been during those first few weeks. He'd taken everything to heart then and anyone else bringing up his failure and how he'd let Buffy down—or at least what he saw as that—were not taken lightly.

But he had told Buffy what was happening and she had done her best to get him to ignore Giles. She reminded him that the first time Giles had gotten things, about them, wrong and that it was primarily his fault William had left. That reminder had helped some and Buffy just being Buffy and reassuring him in her own way had helped him get over his guilt.


They went out almost every weekend; the only reason that it wasn't every weekend was that some times they went out during the week to have more privacy and quiet while they ate or saw a movie. Buffy was also starting to go out some on her own. She hadn't wanted to when Spike first suggested the idea to her, insisting that she both had no one to see and nowhere in particular to go. But William had reasoned that she needed to have a life outside of him and their relationship. He reminded her that he had a few people from New York and England that he still spoke with occasionally and, of course, people for work. She didn't have any of that and he told her it would be good for her even if she only went out to a movie every once in a while or—and this was what had won her over—went shopping some.

Buffy had actually seen Faith one night while they were at the Bronze just a little over a week ago, as well. She, learning from past experience, had asked William if it would be alright if she danced with Faith. He'd looked at her like she were insane and nearly pushed her towards the dance floor.


"Please," Faith requested, "Tell me that that was the guy you were so hung up on last time."

"What? Like him better than Riley?" Buffy joked.

"Hell yeah! And you'd better too or I might just have to offer to take him off your hands."

"Don't you dare," Buffy warned.

"No worries, B. Long as you want him, he's yours."

"He is, isn’t he?" Sure Buffy knew it but now someone else was saying it. "So, he having the reaction you expect from a guy?"

"Like you wouldn't guess. What'd you do to the poor guy?"

"You don't even want to know," Buffy muttered. "Let's just say that as screwed up as I was the first time you saw me—well I messed things up with him about ten times more than as screwed up as I was that night."

"Pretty sure you're figuring that one wrong, blondie."

"What do you mean?"

"From the look on the boy's face, I'd say you didn't screw anything up with him...maybe screwed him, but didn't screw anything up."

"Oh, he's just thinking stuff since he asked me if I'd ever have a threesome with him and some girl and I told him that I thought it'd be fun--"

"Dang B! Guess there's more to you than I thought."

"—but that I wasn't sure that after everything I'd be able to do it."

"You got some sex issues or something?"

"More than some. Well, I used to—I’m working on it," Buffy admitted frankly

"Despite what might have been implied before: You ever decide your answers yes to that question of his and, well, I'm here," Faith said as if it were nothing.

"Really?" Buffy questioned.

"Have you seen you two? Course it's yeah."

"Think you could hold onto your sexual attraction for long enough to hang out with me some day?" Buffy tired to make her serious question sound like a joke in case Faith thought she was nuts.

"Deciding to expand you circle there B?"

"Spike—"

"Please tell me that's not his name.”

"What?" Buffy got defensive, "Of course that's not his given name. It's just a nickname that he goes by."

"Damn you're one lucky girl. Please tell me you're banging him."

"Not yet—I was before everything got all screwed up last time but now...now we're doing things right."

"Well, you'd better do it some day."

"Like I wouldn't. Now, can I tell you what I was trying to a minute ago?"

"Sure."

"Spike thinks it would really be good if I could get out and do some stuff without him but I get really bored doing stuff just by myself and besides I think I also need to get some friends again. So..."

"Yeah, sure, I'll give you my number later. I'm really starting to think that there's a lot more to you than this cheerleadery bit."


She and Faith were doing something about once a week and Spike really had been right, it was making her feel much more independent. Yet that independence didn't make her feel like she needed Spike any less; it was an interesting equation.

Sometimes Faith's friend Fred joined them when they went to the mall. This was one of those days and Buffy hoped that the extra female perspectives and opinions would help her with what she needed to do.

"Guys? I was hoping you could help me pick some stuff out."

"What kind of stuff?" Faith, ever the nosey one, wondered.

"The Victoria's Secret kind of stuff."

"This just for personal-ness or you looking for something for
Spike to get to look at?" Faith prodded while Fred just stood there quietly.

"Second one," Buffy was growing nervous.

"Then I've got somewhere else to take you."

"What are you thinking?" Fred finally spoke up.

"Victoria's Secret is all good and well for the occasional pair of underwear but if B's finally going to give Spikey something, well then she's gonna need something different, isn't she?"


Buffy had no idea how Faith knew of the place they ended up in, nor was she sure she even wanted to know. But it had provided exactly what she needed. Something that was sexy and that she knew William would just love but that didn't cost her too much as she had thought it might have when she first saw the shop.

Buffy hoped that she was right in her figuring that William would be ready for this, too. She didn't want to completely ruin the fun and spontaneity of it by asking, ‘Hey, Spike? Okay if we have sex again now?’

Spike was on the phone at the moment with whoever exactly it was that handled what papers his reviews were published in, discussing adding a new paper—some British one that he seemed to be really excited about.

She really hoped the call went well, not only for the obvious reasons, but also because if it didn't...well that might just mess up her plans for the night and then....well she'd be stupid and get anxious again, probably.

Buffy was already dressed in the partially see-through black panties (with the cute little bows on the sides) and bra so she decided before she knew what was going to happen, to put a robe on over it.

Just about two minutes later, Buffy could hear William end the call and hang up the phone.

And she changed her mind.



Spike wasn't sure how the night could get better—or the day even. He'd spent the beginning of the day with Buffy looking over the university registration booklet and helping her decide which classes it was she wanted to take. Then they'd gone out to lunch, a nice restaurant right along the beach. They had just walked around along the beach and the shops nearby, not coming home until just about an hour before dinner. And Buffy had surprised him that night, making some sort of really good chicken for them; he didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was good nonetheless.

Then he had his call—much later than normal as the man was in London and wanted to talk to William before he had the morning meeting with whoever exactly the 'London people' were. But now, at nearly one in the morning, he was done with work, done with anything that possibly needed doing, and ready to go spend the night with Buffy—even if it wasn't sex; it was enough for now.

He was already in his sleeping pants, had been since hours ago before he had to make that call, so now all he had to do was get into his room and hope Buffy wasn't completely asleep; he wanted to share his good news with her.



"Buffy?" Spike asked, unable to keep his voice from wobbling slightly. Okay, so she was most definitely in his room and most definitely not asleep.

"Spike?" Buffy mimicked, finding his expression amusing.

"You do realize, right, pet, that you don’t have any clothes on?" He was still standing in the doorway, hadn't moved since he'd first spotted her.

"Well I do have these on," She pointed at the little bit that she was wearing—the black bra and panties. She had decided, just moments before to hell with it all and had put the robe back on the chair across from the bed.

"Buffy...pet....luv..." He didn't know what to say—or what to infer.

"About to run out of names for me there aren't you?" Buffy joked.

"Not at all, still have kitten and sweetheart among others," he had recovered some and went to sit next to her on the bed. "If I'm assuming the wrong thing here, for God's sake, tell me...But if you don't...if you don't then I'm going to kiss you now and not stop until morning."

Buffy answered him by moving around, until she had a knee on each side of him, and kissing him soundly on the lips. "You had better not stop."

"I won't, luv, not ever," He promised.

They were going to do it right this time. They both knew how the other was viewing things and they both knew what it meant. This was going to be done right.

"I love you, Buffy," Spike fell back on the bed, taking Buffy with him.

Spike was still kissing her when Buffy pulled back seconds later to sit up. Spike already had his shirt off and the stupid bra was pissing Buffy off with its blocking her skin from his and all, so she easily reached for the clasp in the back and unhooked it. She knew Spike was watching her as she pulled the bra from her body but could only manage to be pleased at how much he seemed to want her.

Spike delighted in the way that the few sections of her hair that had fallen over her shoulders were barely covering her breasts, giving him litltle peeks at her perfection every time she moved; he hoped she never cut her hair if only for that reason.

Buffy, it seemed, would be content to just keep kissing him, but Spike had a few other ideas; rolling them so that Buffy was under him, Spike moved slowly down her body until he reached low enough that he could remove the black scrap of material that was the only thing covering her from him.

When he noticed Buffy starting to reach for the tie on his pants, Spike got up off the bed to remove them completely. "Buffy?" He asked while still standing next to the bed, "Are we going to need a condom?"

"No...well not for birth control reasons."

"Then we're good, yeah?"

"Yeah," Buffy answered as Spike finally joined her back on the bed.

"Gonna make love to you, Buffy. Gonna make it how it should have been from the start."

He was more tender with her that night, as he moved slowly in and out of her, than Buffy had ever dreamed. This, she knew, was how she wanted it to be from now on. Sure it didn't want it to always be this slow and sweet, but she wanted...wanted the same feelings behind it; wanted this to always be one of the possibilities.

"I love you Spike, so much," Buffy whispered to him over and over as he made love to her. Never before had she felt so loved and she only hoped to be able to make him feel the same way some day.



TBC......pretty please review--I could do with some niceness this week :)





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