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Spike studied the ring for a moment in silence. It looked like an ordinary man's ring with a large blue stone in the center. He was certain he was dreaming. How could it be possible that the slayer actually trusted him with something that would make him invulnerable?

"The Gem of Amara?" He asked, mostly to himself, in a slight whisper. "This doesn't look anything like the gem."

"Well, that's because it's not. It's only a replica. Buffy had the original sent to L.A. for Angel but he destroyed it. I just had to find an ordinary ring, work my mojo and BAM, a new gem is born." Willow smiled, pleased with herself, as she continued to chew on a strawberry.

"This is amazing! Does it work?" Spike asked with hope in his eyes.

"There's only one way to find out." Buffy said and took a water pistol from behind her back and started squirting him with it.

Spike looked down at his water stained shirt and quickly stood. "Bloody Hell! What are you doing?"

"It's holy water. You didn't burn so I guess it works." Buffy smirked.

Spike looked toward the window and slowly walked up to it. He brought his hands up and prepared to push apart the curtains and let in the morning sun.

"Spike, wait!" Buffy yelled.

He stopped and turned around to look at her. "What's wrong?"

"Just, go slow ok? What if you let in all that sun all at once and it doesn't work? You'll go all dusty in a matter of seconds." Buffy said with genuine concern in her voice.

"Right." Spike replied.

He continued to look at her for a few seconds. Was she really worried about him? Would watching him come to a dusty ending actually upset her? The way that she yelled out in such a panic made him wonder.

He turned back to the window and stuck his arm out between the curtains and placed his hand on the glass. He felt the warmth of the sun seep into his skin and he couldn't help but smile.

"I think it's working." He pulled the curtains open all the way and stood there with his eyes shut, letting his face completely soak up the sun.

Spike smiled wide when he realized how many things he could do now that he couldn't do before. This whole experience is going to be amazing. In his mind's eye he could see himself walking hand in hand with Buffy in the bright sunshine. He suddenly frowned when he realized that as much as he wanted that to happen, it probably wouldn't because she just didn't feel the same way about him. His love for her was all consuming and he would sometimes imagine showering her with kisses at any given time. The best part of that daydream is her acceptance of him. He wanted to kiss her and see the flush of her cheeks and the warm smile of being in love but that just seemed way too good to ever be true.

He didn't want to let what could never be ruin this moment, so he pushed those negative thoughts in the far recesses of his mind. He savored the feeling of the sun one more time before he turned around to face the girls.

He walked over to Willow and wrapped his arms around her in a friendly embrace.

"Thanks, Willow." He pulled back from her and smiled. "You do great work!"

From out of the corner of her eye, Willow caught a look of uneasiness on Buffy's face. It almost looked like disappointment so she decided to intervene.

"Well, actually Spike, it was Buffy's idea. I just did what she asked."

Buffy's eyes shot up and she shot Willow an evil glare. Spike turned and looked at Buffy's panicked expression and an automatic smirk appeared on his lips. Willow mouthed "sorry" at her and shrugged when Spike wasn't looking.

"Buffy's idea? Is that right?" Spike sauntered over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Thanks, luv. You don't know how much it means to me to have you trust me with the Gem of Amara."

"Uh, Spike, you know this offer is for a limited time only right?"

"What do you mean?"

"The ring gets destroyed when this whole nightmare is finally over. You do realize that right?" Buffy carefully studied his face.

"Right. Of course." Spike said in an understanding tone.

Buffy knew she had just crushed him. She saw the look of hurt and disappointment in his eyes. She knew him well enough to know that he tried his hardest to hide those emotions but he was just so overwhelmed at that moment that she could read every bit of what he was feeling on his face.

"I'm sorry, it's just that it's not safe to have a ring like that around. What if it got lost or stolen. It could be very dangerous." Buffy tried her best to explain after the sudden pang of guilt she felt.

"It's alright, Slayer. I get it. The gem is good enough for Angel but it's not good enough for me."

"Spike, don't do that! Don't put words in my mouth!"

"Why not? It's the truth isn't it?" Spike waited for an answer, but got none.

"You're silence speaks volumes, Slayer." He didn't hide the bitter annoyance in his voice. "The show is about to start filming in a couple hours. We better get ready." He looked over at Willow and nodded. "Thanks again, Red. See you later." He gave Buffy once last unfeeling glance and headed out the door.


*************************
The TV studio was crazy. There were a ton of crew people running around to get everything set up for the show. Buffy walked past one of the rooms to see a lot of editing equipment. There were workers inside piecing together little snippets of each winning contestant.

Buffy was trying to keep her mind off of what happened with Spike. It never phased her before, after she had hurt his feelings. It was always just another part of her day but somehow it was different this time. She felt awful for what happened but she was only trying to help. She didn't think far enough ahead to see this coming. He had been horribly offended and she never thought for a second that he would ever assume that she would let him keep the gem forever.

Her feelings of guilt were replaced with nervousness as she watched the first couple getting filmed for the show. They kept the men and women separated on different sides of the studio so they wouldn't run into each other ahead of time. Little did they know, Spike had been a part of her life for a number of years now.

She watched the silhouette of a woman behind a white screen with a round hole cut into it. The woman stood there behind the screen as the man settled on the other side on bended knee. They said a few things to each other about how they felt about the situation and expressing how happy they were to be there. The man then asked the still faceless woman to marry him and as she said yes, she placed her hand through the hole of the white screen so he could place an engagement ring on her finger.

The man then stood and waited for the screen to be pulled up so the engaged couple could now see who they have been designated to spend the rest of their lives with.

The screen lifted and the couple smiled at each other. The man stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. They looked so happy even though they had only existed in each other's lives for a matter of seconds.

Buffy noticed a man coming toward her with a clipboard in his hand. "Get ready. You're up next." He said as he passed her by.

Her insides fluttered. After watching the previous couple declare possible future love for each other it became way too real.

The man with the clipboard suddenly appeared again. He placed his hand on her back and shoved her in the direction that he wanted her to go.

She found herself on the same stage as the girl who was just proposed to. She was standing behind the same screen with shaky hands and ragged breath. Her heart was leaping in her throat and she couldn't figure out why she was in such a panic. She figured it must be the cameras. The thought of millions of people watching parts of her life with a vampire that she had mixed feelings for terrified her. She was so used to always having everything planned out and for the first time she had absolutely no idea what the next three weeks would bring.

While she waited, thoughts of chocolate and strawberries were entering her mind. Why did they keep having these weird sensuous moments just to either end up fighting or pretending that it never happened at all? She knew she had to strengthen her resolve so she wouldn't give into those moments anymore. This time with him is going to be difficult enough without letting temptation get in the way. Besides, once he found out that she was having mixed feelings for him it would be all over. She could see it all now, that cocky grin, those wandering hands, his knowing eyes. He would use all of those things to try to pull her into his world, a world that she knew she had to stay away from.

She heard an announcer call out Spike's name but she was so drowned in her thoughts that she completely missed her own introduction.

Before she could blink, she saw Spike's silhouette on the other side of the screen. He was the one on bended knee this time and was about to give his speech.

"I know this is a strange way to meet someone." He started, and she could see his head bow a little from her side of the screen. "In the next three weeks I would like the chance to try and get to know you better than anyone else does. I want to have fun with you and make you laugh. I want to hold you when you get nervous or cry. I want us to feel comfortable with each other. I want you to trust me and maybe eventually love me because I have a feeling that the moment I see you I will fall harder than I ever imagined I would. Buffy, will you marry me?"

Buffy felt a little queasy. She knew that this was supposed to be all for show but she also knew that he meant every word of what he had just said. Now she was expected to talk but after hearing his speech, she had no idea what to say. She knew she would have to go with the flow and make sure to remind him on a regular basis that this was just another way to fight impending evil and nothing more. She knew that the more she told him that it didn't mean anything, the more suspicious he would get of her constant denial but it had to be done. It scared her to admit it, but she really didn't want to hurt him. Her feelings had changed and she would like the chance at a friendship. Him loving her made that more complicated than it should be but she missed those nightly chats they used to have while they were patrolling. She saw how all of that was suddenly thrown away because of one single kiss and was afraid that more romantic feelings would just make any chance at a friendship fizzle and die.

She squeezed her eyes together tightly and took a deep breath. "This isn't exactly the traditional way to get engaged but meeting my match hasn't exactly come easily to me. So, as crazy as it is, I am willing to put my fate in the hands of a million strangers and give this the chance it deserves. I hope we are able to find that maybe this is fate. Maybe this is the way we were supposed to meet and maybe it will all work out in the end. So, yes Spike, I will marry you."

The crowd in the audience cheered and Buffy jumped a little, almost forgetting that they were even there. The lights on the stage were so bright that she could barely see them anyway. They all looked like dark globs of shadows waiting around for her to trip and fall on her face.

Buffy slipped her hand through the space in the screen and waited for Spike to make his next move. She felt his hand gently take hold of hers as he slipped an engagement ring onto her finger.

She pulled her hand away and continued to stare at the silhouette of him standing on the other side, waiting to see her. The screen pulled away and her breath caught in her throat when she saw him standing there, looking more handsome than she has ever seen him. His hair was gelled and slightly curled. He wore dark gray khakis and a dark gray long sleeved button down shirt. His blue eyes twinkled under the bright lights and he had such hope in those eyes that she had to fight her own from tearing up.

He moved toward her and gave her a quick and gentle hug before pulling back and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. They wrapped their arms around each other's waists and grinned into the camera and at the audience, neither of them knowing how they were ever going to pull this off.

Things were already starting to get way more complicated than either one of them had been expecting. Their nervousness increased as they realized this was only the beginning.

To Be Continued....

For those of you who don't already know, Married By America was actually a real reality show and that was how it worked. The whole screen thing with the hole in it for proposing is how it was actually done. The show didn't last long but after seeing it a couple times, all I could think about is how Spike and Buffy would handle the situation and that's how this story was born.

Thank you all for reading this. I will post another chapter tomorrow. I loooooved all your reviews! Please continue to leave your opinions. They make my day.





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