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sorry about the wait...been busy but i'll make up for it. I'm posting the rest of the story tonight!!!! yay me!!!
Chapter 6: The Dark Room

After the night on the beach with Spike, the two went back to Spike’s for the rest of the night. Late the next afternoon, they went to Buffy’s so she could develop the pictures she took.

In the dark room, Buffy used the tongs to place the picture in the liquid-filled tub, and then hung it on a rack above. She had already done that with a total of 15 shots.

She heard the door close on the opposite side of the red-tinged room, and smiled, still looking down at her work.

“You almost done in here I’m startin to miss you.” He walked up behind her and enfolded her in a hug.

“Yes, just about…I got a few more to do then I’m all yours.” She reached over to the desk beside her and unwrapped her chocolate bar.

Spike took in a deep breath, and rested his chin on her shoulder casually. “Buffy…I’ve been thinking, and-well…” he paused trying to think of how to say it.

She bit into the chocolaty goodness before speaking. “Come on Spike, spit it out.” She encouraged, with her mouth full.

“I love you.” He retorted quickly, but genuinely.

Buffy nearly choked on her snack, causing her to cough loudly. She swallowed down her food, to prevent any more hazards, before she spoke up. “Wow…definitely not what I was expecting.” She turned around in his arms, with a huge smile.

The smile she had reassured Spike, and felt less nervous. “What were you expecting, luv?”

“Well, I don’t know…something like: ‘I was thinking of getting a puppy…’ or ‘What would I look like with black hair…?’ but I’m happier with this!” she wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. “I just want you to be sure.” She spoke in a soft, and gentle tone, almost afraid that he wasn’t sure.

“I am…never been more sure of anything.” He placed a kiss to the top of her head, smoothing out her work-tousled hair, and playing with the fallen curls from her messy bun.

Let me tell ya. I’ve never been happier then to just to hear those three little words come out of his mouth. I knew then, that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. I wasn’t going to let him slip away from me. He gave me everything that I wanted and made sure I was happy with it. And that day in the dark room-even though I was in my baggy shirt, with no make-up and my hair-messed up-I’ve never felt so beautiful. He looked at me like I was some sort of Goddess that had never been seen before. Eyeing her in amazement. It was exhilarating for both of us…which usually led to other things…

* * * * *

Buffy couldn’t be more disappointed when her dad had called saying Angel was on his way back. Her and Spike spent the rest of their week, just staying at his house…and mostly in the bedroom.

There she sat on her couch, alone and waiting for Angel to come home. She knew what she had to do, and she was ready to do it.

I was scared. Not really of Angel but how he would take it. But then all I had to do was remember why I was doing it, and being scared was a lost cause.

10 minutes later Angel walked through the door with his bags. “Buffy?” he called out into the house.

Buffy stood up and took a deep breath before greeting him. “Hey…Angel.” She said with little enthusiasm. “How was your trip?” she crossed her arms over her chest.

Angel reached into his bag, obviously searching for something. “Good. It felt nice to get away from Sunnydale. Made me see a lot of things.” he replied, walking into the living room, with an 8x10 brown envelope.

Buffy followed him back in and sat down on the couch. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

Angel pulled out sheets of paper from the envelope, and looked them over. “Oh…nothing really.” He replied nonchalantly. “So what did you do? Anything interesting?” his eyes never left the sheets he was flipping through.

Buffy ignored it assuming it was work related. “Um…nothing, went shopping…” she smiled nervously, as she listened to her heart pound hard in her chest. Noticing how interested he was in the sheets he was holding, she asked him about them. “Whatcha got there?”

“Hmm.” He ignored her and frowned. “I have to say…this ones my favorite.” He dropped what seemed to be a picture, on the coffee table facing up.

Buffy leaned over to look at it, and froze. There in front of her was a picture of her and Spike sitting together on the bench, her head rested on his shoulder. She didn’t think her heart could race any faster then it already was…until he threw down the next picture. They were all the ones from the park…them kissing and laughing. A chill was creeping down her spine as he continued to show her the pictures.

Her mouth dropped when he showed her the ones from the beach, the ones of her and Spike making love and sharing their most intimate moments together.

Her eyes welled up with tears, her hands shaking as she reached for the pictures and went through them. “Angel…” her voice was a mere whisper. “Oh my God.” She looked up at him and blinked away her tears, letting them fall down her cheeks freely.

“Oh but wait, Buffy. There’s more…” he placed a few more pictures down. They were the ones at Spike’s apartment while she was out on the balcony. The first few were just of her, but the ones had Spike coming into the frame, like a flipbook. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the rest.

She closed her eyes tight, and let out ragged breaths.

For some reason Angel was very calm. Like eerie-calm. That’s what spooked me. He didn’t look upset or sad…he just acted without feeling.

“What’s wrong…I would think you of all people wouldn’t be shocked by these pictures, you were in them.” He voice was deep, and cold.

“I was going to tell you…” she looked down, her voice laced with a quiver.

“When? I mean, how long has this been going on for…a few weeks?”

“A month.” Buffy wasn’t even sure she said it her whisper was so soft. She felt like all the air had been sucked from her lungs, and the room.

“A month?!? Buffy, this is-God I can’t believe you!” Angel paced the room, pinching the bridge of his nose. Lowering his voice he continued. “Who is this guy? Where’d you meet him?”

Buffy didn’t know if she wanted to answer those questions, so she kept her mouth shut.

“ANSWER ME BUFFY!!!”

She jumped at his tone, and swallowed hard. “Spike…and I met him at the Bronze. Who took these?” she looked up at him with cold eyes, lifting the pictures, to emphasize. “WHO?” Buffy asked louder, when he didn’t reply.

“A man named Lindsey MacDonald. He specializes in it.”

Buffy stood, and walked over to him. “Look, Angel…you have every right to be pissed, or-or angry with me. But you need to know I was going to tell you.” She drew in a deep breath. “Spike gives me something that we never had. And I feel like you and I are together, not because we want to be or because we love each other…but because we felt we have to.” Tears fell from her eyes.

Angel stepped closer to her and put a hand on her cheek, his eyes welling up as well. “But I do love you, and do want to be with you.”

She pulled his hand away, and stepped back. “I don’t love you, Angel. I’m so, so sorry. I care about you, I do. But we’ve drifted apart. Ever since Connor, you haven’t been able to open up to me. How can I love you if you never talk to me?”

“Buffy, I’ll open up, I will…but just-don’t do this. We can forget all about the pictures, and what happened with him and just start over.”

Buffy closed her eyes, and let out a sigh. “I can’t do that. I’m sorry. But I-I love him. And like I said before, we’ve drifted apart. And you can tell me that you love me, but we both know that those feelings just aren’t there anymore. They aren’t that strong.”

Angel turned his head away, realizing that they weren’t as close as they use to be.

“I got to go. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be around each other right now.” Buffy picked up the pictures that were scattered, on the table and put them back in the envelope, feeling violated and not wanted Angel to see them or have possession of them. She grabbed her keys and hurried out the door.

Buffy stepped into her car, and cried the whole way to Spike’s. Angel had his suspicions about her cheating. That’s why he wasn’t speaking to her that much. Even less than he normally would.

I was just happy it was all over, ya know? Yeah, I broke Angel’s heart, but we both knew we were just kidding ourselves. He just didn’t want to believe it. I could finally be with Spike. In his arms, right where I belonged.

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