She hadn’t realised just how much one person knowing the truth could relieve the strain on her shoulders but she felt so much more relaxed as they headed out together for patrol, light-headed and happy. She still didn’t dare reach out and hold his hand like she wanted to, but they were walking close enough that every few steps, his hand would brush against hers. She turned and smiled widely, her heart hammering with his return smile.

Now she knew what he had been hiding from her – his love – she saw it in everything: every gesture, every look, every word. She was still reeling from the revelation, the idea that Spike could love her. Not that she could be really surprised – she was more than halfway there herself – but she still struggled with it. She thought maybe she ought to be scared – after all, the last time a vampire had fallen in love with her, problems had abounded – but with Spike, things were different. His love was of an entirely different ilk to Angel’s.

Even though she knew he was dying to hear the words returned, he did not pressure her, did not even mention the idea. With Angel, she had almost felt forced to return the words, especially towards the end of their relationship. Most importantly though, Spike’s love felt freeing, whereas Angel’s had been a cage; where Angel wanted to hold her and keep her safe, Spike wanted everything for her that she wanted herself. She was amazed to have earned his love but now she had it, nothing was going to take it away, she was certain of that.



They walked along in silence, exchanging shy smiles every now and again as they moved through Sunnydale’s graveyards. It was a quiet night and she was glad for it as it gave her more time to think, to process the events of the afternoon. She had forgotten about part of the conversation with her mother until Spike spoke up.

“What do you reckon?”

“Huh? What?” she got out, snapping out of her daze, turning to him in confusion.

“That crypt,” he said, nodding in the direction of one just to their right, “What do you think?”

“Erm, it’s nice?” she commented, still confused.

He smiled and took her hand, pulling her towards it and inspecting the heavy door. It was open, luckily, and he pushed it open, squeezing her hand and guiding her in behind him. He stopped in the middle of the dim room, looking around, nodding slightly to himself.

“Spike? What’s going on?” she asked, frowning at him in confusion.

“Need a place to stay, don’t I?” he reminded her with a smile, moving close and wrapping an arm around her. She had forgotten about her mother’s ultimatum of sorts and looked around at the dusty, cobwebbed crypt.

“Here?!”

“S’nice and cosy. I like it.”

“It’s a crypt.”

“Yeah, and? I’m a vampire… it works.”

“I thought maybe you’d get an apartment or something.”

He regarded her for a moment, tugging her closer and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“Like living close to the ground. And don’t have the ready cash for anything like that.”



She nodded and moved out of his embrace, stepping forward and running an unimpressed gaze over the dark room. Spike stepped up behind her, running both hands down her arms and drawing her back against his chest.

“Buffy?”

“Do you have to leave?” she murmured sadly.

“You know I have to, love,” he soothed, running his hands over her arms as he pressed a soft kiss to her neck, “Your mum’s right.”

“But it’s not fair,” she sighed, knowing she sounded childish but not caring.

She heard him chuckle and he wrapped both arms around her, holding her tight against him.

“S’a pretty good idea though, eh, love?” he prompted, “Might make things easier.”

She sighed and turned in his embrace, resting her head against his chest.

“But I’m going to miss having unlimited Spike on tap,” she murmured with a slight smile, hands resting on his chest.

“I’m gonna miss you too, sweetheart,” he replied with a laugh, tucking one finger under her chin and guiding her head upwards to meet his gaze, “But s’not like we won’t see each other every day.”

“You promise?” she asked, softening as he brushed a hand over her hair and smiled down at her softly.

“I promise.”

She smiled sadly and leant up to meet his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and losing herself in his taste.



Now she was perched on a sarcophagus, watching him with an affectionate smile as he inspected every inch of the crypt, already planning his cosy little place.

“Hey, there’s a downstairs.”

He disappeared before her eyes and she got to her feet, moving over to where he had disappeared and finding a hole in the floor.

“Spike?”

“Access to the caves down here,” he called back, his voice echoing below, “Nice and big down here.”

The next second, he had jumped up through the hole and was right in front of her, startling her as he caught her around the waist.

“Room for a nice big bed. Just in case I get any visitors, you know?”

“Oh?” she replied flirtatiously, leaning into him, “Expecting plural visitors, huh?”

“Well, s’hard to fight the girls off, you know,” he murmured with a smirk and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’ll fight them off for you.”

He laughed and drew her close, brushing his lips over her before pulling back to look at her.

“Only one girl for me, really. And she’s right here.”

She was sure, as the Slayer, she should be immune to swooning – but apparently not. She leant into him again, drawing his mouth down to hers and kissing him hungrily.



She stumbled backwards into a sarcophagus, drawing him with her and letting out a little moan as his body pressed against hers. He flattened one hand on the ledge and twined his other arm around her, holding her against him tightly as he kissed her, teasing her with tantalising sweeps of his tongue, before finally deepening their kiss, his tongue diving inside her mouth and drawing another moan from her. She clung to him, pressing herself against him, urging him closer.

The ledge of the sarcophagus was digging into her back and she wriggled uncomfortably, succeeding only in causing a moan in her vampire. In one swift motion – never breaking their kiss – she lifted herself onto the sarcophagus and he settled between her legs almost instantly, his kiss growing hungry, his hand trailing up her back and twining in her hair. She parted from him breathlessly, arching her neck back as his mouth fell to her skin, teasing her with soft kisses and gentle nips.

“What you do to me,” he murmured against her skin, sucking hard on the junction between neck and shoulder and drawing a helpless moan from her.

She wrapped her legs around him instinctively, holding him close as she found his mouth again with hers, her arms tightening around his neck, plastering herself to him. And then, Spike was breaking away, holding his body away from hers, guiding her legs from around his hips. When his dark gaze met hers, she pouted but complied, knowing without words that they had to stop.

“Guess we should get back to patrol,” she said lightly, brushing a chaste kiss over his lips before pushing him backwards and getting down from her perch. She smiled softly and turned to go but he caught her, drawing her back into his embrace.

“I love you,” he whispered, his mouth pressed against her forehead.

Before she could say anything, he pulled away and smiled wryly.

“Come on, let’s go find something to kill.”

She smiled and fell into step beside him, forcing her body to accept the withdrawal of his kisses and caresses.





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