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Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. I'll be back when I find something else that I haven't posted here that I think people might like.
Chapter Five - It’s All Different Now

After an evening meal, a hot bath in the tub that turned out to be just big enough for two people and whatever activities in which they might want to indulge, and a quiet evening lying in the hammock and watching the unfamiliar stars, whatever remaining insecurity either one of them might have had about their new relationship was pretty much vanquished.

With no false modesty, Buffy undressed and slid into the bed, holding the blankets up until an equally naked Spike joined her there. Even slayers and vampires could exhaust themselves if they worked at it hard enough; as a result, their love-making that night was slow and gentle, a comfortable melding of bodies that were already well on their way to being intimately familiar.

When they had enjoyed what was going to be their last mutual orgasm of the night, Spike whispered against her neck, “Can I say it now, Buffy? I need to say it. I need to tell you.” Throughout their long day and evening of vigorous sexual activity, and the less athletic, but equally fulfilling night’s gentle love-making, the vampire had smothered the “I love you” that wanted to make itself known, settling instead for a long litany of murmured endearments that carefully avoided the words that, less than twenty-four hours earlier, she had forbidden him to say.

Buffy worried her lower lip, wondering why she was so reluctant to have him put into words what was so readily apparent to them both.

( Is it because I’m afraid I can’t say it back? Or is it because I’m afraid I will say it back and that will mean I’ve given up on the idea of having a normal life with a human man? Have I given up that idea? Is that what that fat little busybody meant by trying to give me a happily ever after? Is Spike my happily ever after?)

She felt him sigh in resignation, as he took her lengthy silence to mean that she was going to refuse to hear what he wanted so badly to tell her. The pang that she felt at the thought of hurting him made her decision for her and she said softly, “Spike, look at me. Please?”

He raised his head obediently, his eyes showing how clearly he was preparing himself for her rejection. She held his gaze as she whispered carefully, “I think I could learn to love you, William the Bloody.”

Confusion, hope and sudden acceptance flew across his face before he buried his head once again to hide the sudden moisture in his eyes.

“I love you, Buffy. Love you so bloody much. I will love you forever.”

“I know,” she murmured, holding him close and pretending she didn’t know the big bad vampire was crying. “I know you will. You’re my happy ever after.”

Exhausted from both the day’s activities and the emotions roiling through them, they fell into a deep sleep, still intimately connected.


Epilogue – Happily Ever After (in Sunnydale?)

“Mmmmmmm,” the Slayer moaned and stretched, wincing at the lack of comfy softness underneath her.

An answering groan from the vampire beside her told her that, wherever she was now, she wasn’t alone; she snuggled into his willing embrace, trying hard to pretend she was still in the big comfy bed.

A “Bloody hell!” that did NOT come from the still groggy vampire brought them both awake and they sat up quickly, scanning the area around them. When Buffy saw that the source of the exclamation was her Watcher, she groaned and dropped her head onto Spike’s shoulder.

“I think we’re back,” she whispered.

“Yeah, and I think I’m about to be dust if you don’t start explaining right now!” The panicked edge in Spike’s voice made her look up into Giles’ face and note the anger there.

“I presume,” he said coldly, “that you have a good explanation for your absence for the past two nights? And for why, when I have finally found you, it turns out that you are sound asleep, in a graveyard, on the ground - with Spike?”

The vampire in question rose to his feet, prepared to flee if needed, but unwilling to leave Buffy to face the watcher on her own.

“Beastie, portal, alternate dimension, frog, rain, fairy godmother, trapped, back,” he rattled off before Buffy could say anything. “Anything else you need to know before you go accusing her of slacking?” He had quite obviously placed himself protectively between Buffy and her Watcher, causing the man’s eyes to narrow even more.

“If you have turned her…“ he began ominously.

“Sheesh, Giles! Can’t I take a little nap in a cemetery without you thinking I’ve been vamped? Give us a little credit, will you? If Spike had turned me, would we be lolling around out here where anyone could find us? Or where the sun could—“ She turned to look at the vampire anxiously. “It’s almost dawn; you need to get in. You’re not sun-proof here.”

The Watcher glared at them suspiciously, more than a bit uncomfortable with the obvious affection between the two former enemies. When Buffy stepped up beside Spike and held his hand, saying only, “Let Spike get home before the sun comes up. I’ll tell you all about it on the way back to your place. Okay?” he began to get a sinking feeling.

“I already gave him the shorthand version,” the vampire grumbled, recognizing the truth in what she was saying but reluctant to leave her so soon after their return.

Buffy’s whispered, “I’ll be back later,” as she stood on her toes and kissed him quickly reassured him enough that, after another stolen kiss under Giles’ horrified gaze, he moved away to duck into his near-by crypt.

As soon as he was safely inside, Buffy turned to her watcher and took his arm, leading him out of the cemetery as she chattered about her fairy godmother, enchanted cottages, and ‘happily ever-after.” Giles cast an eye at the rapidly brightening sky and wondered idly if it was too early to begin on his newest bottle of scotch. Somehow, he felt he was going to need it.

The End





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