Buffy opened the door to be greeted by two smiling faces.

"Hi guys!" Buffy smiled. "Come on in."

Xander and Anya walked into the living room and they both spotted Spike standing across the room looking nervous.

"Spike." Xander acknowledged him with a nod.

"Hey, Uh, Willow told me about your engagement. Congratulations! I'm glad you two decided to give it another go." Spike said almost a little too enthusiastically.

"Thank you!" Anya responded, trying to break the tension. "Did you see my ring?" She asked as she walked up to show him her new piece of jewelry.

Spike took her hand and inspected the ring.

Xander inwardly cringed at the sight of Anya's hand in Spike's. Xander knew that there were no romantic feelings between the two but he couldn't help but still feel that twinge of jealousy wash over him every time they were near each other. His wounds were still too fresh to be able to completely get over past events.

Willow walked in the door and pulled Xander away from his intense observation of Spike and Anya's continued discussion about her engagement ring.

Willow shot Xander and Buffy a huge grin before making her way over to a very uncomfortable looking Spike. She knew he was probably hoping someone would save him from Anya's incessant yapping about the planning of her new wedding.

"Hi Anya!" Willow greeted, now standing between the two of them. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I really need to speak with Spike."

"Oh, that's ok. We'll just finish up later then." Anya said and then started to make her way toward Xander.

Willow pulled Spike into the kitchen and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Red. I owe you one. Hearing Anya talk about her wedding is one thing but when she starts asking my opinion about material for brides maids dresses, that's where I draw the line."

Willow chuckled. "I hope she goes traditional this time because if I end up in burlap & blood larvae I may be the one skipping out on the wedding. So, how is everything going with Buffy?" Willow asked suddenly changing the subject.

"Pretty good." Spike smiled. "Actually, it's been very good. We kissed tonight. It was here in the kitchen right before Xander and Anya showed up. You know, I swear I think Xander has radar sometimes. It's like he can sense the very moment that I'm happy and then shows up to purposely cut my moment short."

Willow completely ignored his comment about Xander. She was way too engrossed in the fact that Spike and Buffy had kissed.

Willow squealed. "That's great! It's about time you two started with the smoochies. How did it happen?

It seemed strange to see Willow this excited over a potential relationship between he and Buffy. He never thought that he would see the day when one of her friends would want them to be together but it was nice to have someone on his side for once.

"It happened right after I almost set the kitchen on fire trying to make microwave popcorn"

"You almost set a fire making popcorn?" Willow asked with a look of disbelief. "I was wondering why it smelled burnt in here."

Xander walked into the kitchen just in time to hear Willow's last comments. He looked over at Spike with amusement and started laughing.

"Awww, what happened Spike? Did the ex big bad try to slay the evil popcorn?"

Spike was about to retort when Willow spoke before he got the chance.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you Xander. If I remember correctly, the last time you tried to make popcorn for us, Buffy's mom had to save you from making the grave mistake of defrosting it."

Xander opened his mouth to fight back but stopped when Buffy walked in.

"Looks like the party has moved into the kitchen and someone forgot to invite me." Buffy said. "Come on guys. Let's move it into the living room. Dawn finally got here with the snacks. She said she took so long because there were long lines but the smile she has on her face tells me that she was probably flirting with the check out guy."

The gang strolled into the living room to get settled and watch a movie.

Xander settled down on the floor with Anya comfortably leaning back against him. Dawn took a seat in the recliner they had just recently purchased. Spike sat on the middle cushion of the couch with Willow seated to his right and Buffy to his left.

As the movie started Buffy shut off the lights and let the glow from the TV screen illuminate the room.

About fifteen minutes into the movie, Buffy draped a blanket around herself and partially over Spike. She waited another fifteen minutes before she grabbed his hand underneath the blanket and entwined her fingers with his.

She didn't want to make it look obvious that she draped the blanket over themselves for the specific purpose of holding his hand. She also didn't want him to think that she was trying to hide her feelings for him again for the benefit of her friends. She knew how much it would upset him even though hiding their developing relationship was exactly what she was trying to do. She wasn't quite sure why she was still trying to hide it. Spike and Willow had a very close friendship and Xander at least seemed to finally be tolerating Spike's presence.

In spite of all those things Buffy still felt that she had to hide and in spite of all the things that Spike had done for her, she still felt a little bit ashamed. She hated feeling that way but Spike was still a vampire after all. Her morals were screaming at her in her mind because being with Spike was the exact opposite of what she should be doing in her life. Slayers were supposed to kill vampires, not have feelings for them. That is just the way it was supposed to be yet she continued to hold on to his hand even though her every ounce of common sense was telling her to let go.

She finally let go of his hand and stood up to head toward the kitchen.

"I'm gonna go grab some more snacks." Buffy said.

"I'll give you a hand slayer." Spike stood up to follow her. "Hey Xander, I'm gonna grab a beer. Do you want one?"

Xander gave him a suspicious look. "Uh yeah, sure I'll have one. Thanks."

"Anyone else want anything?" Spike asked.

"I'll have an orange soda." Willow answered.

"Me too." Dawn said.

"Nothing for me. I'm fine." Anya said.

Xander was a bit unnerved by Spike's politeness. In the past, his kindness always came with selfish reasons. He just wasn't used to Spike acting like a human being but he was through obsessing over what was going on in his mind and decided to let it go. Maybe he was just trying to get along but he couldn't help but think that there was some ulterior motive.

Spike walked into the kitchen to find Buffy putting chips into a big bowl. She looked up at him when he walked into the room and gave him a sly smile.

"I see you're trying to be the good little host out there." Buffy said.

"I'm just trying to be nice slayer." Spike growled.

"Wow, that's a first." Buffy said still smiling slyly.

"Very funny."

She continued to look at him with a mischievous grin.

"What?" Spike said, feeling uncomfortable with her stare.

She slowly walked up to him until she was just a few inches in front of him.

"Kiss me." She commanded.

Spike smiled and lowered his head toward hers until his lips were so close that he could feel her breath on them.

"You're command is my wish." He spoke before pressing a soft kiss upon her lips.

Buffy smiled at him and a contented sigh escaped her throat. They walked back into the living room to deliver the snacks and drinks to her guests.

Buffy tried to hide her smile but failed miserably. No one noticed except for Willow. She was so happy that things were working out for Buffy and Spike. She knew what Spike was willing to do for her. She's never seen two people so full of love. She just wished that Buffy would finally decide to give some of that love to Spike. Willow was so full of love for Tara and didn't want to see them make the same mistakes as she did. They argued so much over magic and Willow wished that she could have realized that Tara was right sooner. They lost so much time together and she would do anything to get that back.

After the movie had ended everyone started to stand up and get ready to go home. Her friends were grabbing their jackets and Buffy was heading toward the group at the door to say goodbye. She suddenly felt two hands start sliding around her waist from behind her. Buffy panicked, grabbed Spike's hands and shoved them away from her before anyone had the chance to see.

Spike silently fumed until everyone was safely out the door.

"What was that all about?" Spike asked after everyone was gone and Dawn had left the room.

"What?" Buffy responded looking confused.

"You won't even let me put my arms around you. What are you embarrassed or something?"

"You just startled me that's all. I wasn't embarrassed." Buffy answered.

"If you're not embarrassed, then why did you make sure the blanket was covering us while you held my hand. I know that wasn't a coincidence."

Damn. He did notice.

Buffy opened her mouth to say something but then quickly closed it. She had no idea how to respond to his accusations especially since they were true.

"Fine." Spike spat in aggravation from her silence. "You know what slayer? Why don't we just forget all of this? I thought you were actually starting to like me but I guess I was wrong."

"I do like you." Buffy said in a whisper while eyeing the floor.

"But you’re ashamed of me, is that right?"

Buffy didn't respond. She just continued to stare at the floor.

"Buffy, I can't do this anymore. Either you want to be with me or you don't. I can't read your mind. I don't know what you really want but if you want to be with me then it has to be completely. I'm sick of hiding. It seems that everyone has gotten past the fact that I've been hanging around you except for you. Why can't you accept the fact that I've changed? No one else seems to have a huge problem with me anymore so why are you still running away? In spite of Spike's many questions Buffy remained silent.

"This obviously isn't working out." Spike continued.

Tears started to form in Buffy's eyes but she still said nothing.

"If you don't care about me and you don't want to be with me, then I'll try to accept that. We can continue on as friends or whatever it was we were before. But if you want to work this out and you really do care, then you better let me know soon because I refuse to wait around for you forever. I can't go on with you like this anymore, so you better figure out what you want fast because if you wait too long this time, I might not be here when you've finally come to your senses."

Spike talked to her as calmly as he possibly could. He waited a few seconds but when he realized that she was still determined to remain quiet, he let out an aggravated sigh and stormed out the door, slamming it behind him.

***********************************************************

Buffy tried to sleep but was unsuccessful. She couldn't stop thinking about the argument she had with Spike. Her mind was screaming at her to stay away but her heart was telling her to go to him. She was tired of having the same fight with herself over and over again. She knew what she really wanted. She just had to let herself accept it.

She shut out her arguing thoughts and opened her heart. She stood up to get dressed and get ready to talk to Spike. She thought it would take longer for her to make up her mind but the thought of losing him was just too much to bare. She couldn't take that chance.

Buffy made her way in the darkened streets toward his crypt. As she walked there, she felt like she was in the Twilight Zone. It was way too quiet and there was no sign of anyone, not even vampires. This made her nervous. She was the slayer so the darkness never bothered her but the quietness is what unsettled her nerves. She knew that every time all signs of life disappeared that it meant there was some evil brewing.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted Spike's crypt. She was almost there and thankfully without any hassles.

She knew it was too good to be true as she suddenly encountered a Lorac demon. It was black and scaly, almost snakelike. It has no legs, only a huge tail that it slithered along on. Instead of arms it had huge sword-like blades protruding from it's shoulders. This was one demon that she had seen in Giles' books that she hoped she'd never have to encounter. Of course it would be this night of all nights that she would end up running into one. It seemed that whenever she made her mind up about anything that there would always be something to interfere and stand in her way.

The demon slithered toward her in a super fast motion and tried to cut Buffy with its sharp replacement for arms. Buffy moved quickly to the side to avoid being sliced into. She moved carefully and dropped to the ground and with a swift motion, kicked her leg to the side and made contact with its large tail. She watched it fall to the ground as she kept her distance from it's now flailing blades.

Off in the distance Spike heard some commotion from outside his crypt and ran out to see what it was. He witnessed Buffy trying to fight off one of the scariest looking demons he had ever seen.

He started to run toward her because she obviously looked like she needed some help as the battle between them continued.

He got within a few feet of her, when he heard a blood-curdling scream come from Buffy's throat. He gasped as he saw the demon's sharp limb stab into her back.

"Buffy!" Spike screamed.

He ran toward her body that was now lying on the ground. Spike growled at the demon that quickly started slithering away. He stared to run after it but it made its way away from him too fast. He knew it would take him way too long to catch up with it and he didn't want to leave Buffy. She was seriously hurt and she needed some help.

He ran back to her and a strangled cry escaped his throat as he saw how much of her blood was now pooled around her on the ground. He kneeled next to her and listened to her shallow breaths. Tears started to fall from his eyes as he looked down at her pale face.

Buffy's eyes fluttered open and she looked over at Spike.

"Spike." She whispered.

"Stay quiet Buffy. Don't strain yourself. You're hurt badly. I need to get you some help." Spike's tears continued to fall.

Spike saw the utterly horrified look in her eyes. After she was brought back to life over a year ago he watched her try to find a reason to live after being dragged out of heaven. Now he saw the eyes of a scared little girl who would give anything to stay alive.

"Spike." Buffy continued to speak despite his instructions. "I love you ,Spike."

Spike's heart sang and shattered at the same time after hearing her words. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her head slightly off the ground. He watched as her eyes closed and he suddenly felt her body go limp.

"Buffy! Please don't leave me!" Spike cried in hopes that she would open her eyes.

She remained still.

"Buffy!"

To Be Continued.....





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