Buffy stepped into the bedroom, wrapped in a towel. Spike quickly closed his fist with the ring in his palm. He rose from the bed and slipped it back in the small pouch and placed it into his jean pocket.

Buffy, oblivious, walked over the window. "It's so dark. You can see very star in the sky."

"Definitely not L.A." Spike said, pouring a cup of water from the pitcher that sat next to the bed. "Even the water here tastes better," he said after taking a sip.

Spike rose, feeling flushed from seeing Buffy in a towel. he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the back of her head, running his hands down her thighs. Buffy leaned her head back and sighed. She loved the way his hands felt on her skin. Now that they were warm, his hands excited her even more. She felt him bring his hands back up her thighs, moving the towel out of the way. She turned to face him, ready to kiss him. While lip-locked, the stumbled to the bed and fell. Buffy let out a giggle at their clumsiness. He silenced her with another kiss. Their bodies moved together slowly.

Buffy met Spike's eyes and for the first time, she felt completely connected to him. She saw his soul staring back at her and it filled her heart with warmth. This wasn't her running to him when things weren't going her way, or when she needed someone to reassure her role in this world, or when she wanted to be on a path of self destruction. This was new. This was real. Buffy never felt this whole with anybody. He understood her. He saw her good and bad sides and loved her all the same. He accepted every ounce of her. Buffy wished things could have been more solid with him in the past, but she also knew that if that were the case, losing him in the hellmouth would have been more devastating to her. Somehow, it all seemed to work out for the better. Now, she could let herself love him and feel secure, knowing that everything has been recreated in a new light, just for them. Their love wasn't just renewed, it was cleansed.

Buffy was mesmerized with Spike's breathing as they lay in bed after love making. She stared in silence watching his chest move up and down."Still gettin' used to it." she said. A twang of guilt swept over her when she realized she had been so lost in these moments with Spike, Dawn hadn't really entered her mind.

Spike opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Same here, luv." He noticed her expression change. "What's wrong?"

Buffy sat up bringing her knees to her chest. "I really hope Dawn is okay. She's probably wiggin out right now."

Spike sat up, bending one knee upwards. "She's in good hands."

"I know you don't mean Andrew." Buffy giggled.

"Gunn is a skilled fighter and he knows his way around."

Buffy fell back down onto her back more relaxed. "I know. I just don't want her to be scared."

Spike joined her and turned his body in her direction. "She's a Summers girl."

Buffy smiled. "Yea, that's what I'm afraid of."

"Oh come on. You can't baby her forever. She's a smart girl." Spike leaned in and scooped her up into his arms.

"That's why she likes you so much. You always treated her like an equal."

Buffy rested her head on Spike's chest. "I wish we didn't have to be sucked into another dimension to feel this"

Spike moved her away from him a little so he could look into her eyes. "Feel what?"

"This. Us. It just feels so... comfortable. So... right."

Spike felt the heat run through his body. He was still surprised at this closeness he shared with Buffy. He had to agree. He felt like if they were anywhere else, they may not have been given this chance to be alone like this. He saw that night in his mind, back in Sunnydale.

You listen to me. I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I prefer you didn't. I don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. So I make a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: , look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say, "I love you," it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy.

"Every dark cloud has a silver lining, I suppose." Spike slid down to lay by her side.

"It killed me, you know." Buffy met his eyes. "When you... in the hellmouth."

"Buffy..."

She pressed her fingers against his lips to silence him. "You didn't believe me when I said 'I love you'." Buffy looked away, feeling that pain as if it was yesterday.

Spike remained silent, unsure of what to say. He saw the pain in her. He felt it. He also hated himself for letting her believe for a year that he was dead.

"You never had to... die to convince me that you're a hero."

"I didn't sacrifice myself for my image, luv." Spike's eyebrows wrinkled.

"No, I know. What I mean is, you didn't have to lie to me for a year, letting me believe you were truly gone. If you would have come to my door..."

"I'm sorry, Buffy." Spike had no idea what else to say.

"You were a hero to me way before that."

She smiled to reassure him that she wasn't mad. She wanted him to know the truth about how he appeared to her in that last year in Sunnydale. It wasn't him burning up that made her see him as a true champion. It was many things. He was amazing to her. A vampire, without a soul, able to do the things he did. Unlike any other vampire she has ever encountered. She shivered at the thought of Angel when he was soulless.

Buffy closed her eyes and smiled. "Tell me a story."

"A story?"

"Yea, something from your past."

Spike lifted his head and rested it in his palm. "Are you sure? My past isn't puppy dogs and lollipops."

Buffy chuckled. "Yea, I know. But tell me something from before you were a vampire."

"You mean, the days of bad poetry and insecurity?" Spike grinned.

"Come on..." Buffy lightly punched his arm.

"Okay, Okay. Once upon a time there was an awkward , sorry excuse for a man, named William. He..."

Buffy interrupted. "Do you really hate your pre-vampire self that much?"

Spike sighed. "I guess it's the reason I loved being a vampire so much. My former self was pathetic. At least after I was turned, I had meaning. A place in the world, as dark as that world was."

"Do you miss it?" Buffy felt a little uncomfortable.

"No. But I'd never would have met you if I wasn't ever turned, right?"

"Hm, yea I guess not."

Spike cupped her chin. "Look, if you think I want to be back there, in that hell... What I've been given now is a second chance at life. A normal life, which consists of breathing, and eating, ...and loving you. I wouldn't trade that for anything."

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make the world seem better." Buffy smiled. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Do we have to go down that lane?" Spike laughed.

"You came into my school on parent teacher night, and..." Buffy giggled. "You thought you were so bad ass."

"Hey, I was bad ass! I just... got distracted!"

"Yea, by my mom clobbering you," Buffy teased.

"There were thousands of people who feared me... I was a living legend!" Spike now sported a wide smile.

They both laughed at the memory. Buffy leaned in and kissed him, softly. "You're still my bad ass Spike."

Spike laughed, returning her kiss. He remembered the first real time he saw her. In the Bronze, dancing. He was so hell bent on destroying her but that night, he felt something he couldn't grasp. If he would have known what it all meant, back then, he wondered how different their lives would have been. Still, events of the past happen for a reason and he was glad that it all led to this. Buffy in his arms.