HAPPY NON-RAPTURE!

Apparently I've gone and ruined all guys for one of my favorite little reviewers, . In her words "Now any date I go on will be the equivalent of a hay ride in horse poo." I take this as one of the highest compliments I have ever received.

LithiumReaper (& all those who may be wondering), I can solemnly swear that this is not, was never, and will never be a break-up-make-up-break-up-make-up-break-up-make-up rinse & repeat story. I don't like those and refuse to ever write one. There will be issues that come up, just like in any real life relationship, but I won't turn this in to a toxic romance like some others I have seen.

This chapter is not at all what I had expected it to be, it completely wrote itself, I'm not even kidding. I didn't even mean to write half of it. It just happened and is a good bit longer than my other chapters, consider it a non-rapture present.

The song that managed to sneak its creepy little ass in to this chapter is called Bastards at the Gate by The Architects. They are an amazing band from Kansas City that I recently saw in concert and fell in love with. They are truly a great band and a lot of their songs may be making their way in to this story, they just feel like a Spike kind of band.

ACeH-aH, you may recognize a little bit of the dialogue in here from our recent messaging. You'll know it when you see it. :)

& now that I am done talking to everyone, here is...

Chapter 11

Buffy awoke a few hours later with the feeling of euphoria still lingering all around her body. She turned over in the bed and was surprised when she saw that Spike was not there next to her. She glanced around the room and noticed that the door leading to the deck was open. She stood slowly, grabbing Spike's shirt off of the floor and wrapping it around herself before walking through the door.

The second she was outside she saw him standing across the way. He was leaning over the railing, wearing nothing but a pair of pants, smoking a cigarette as he looked out at the water. She quietly made her way over to him, bare feet softly patting against the wooden floor. Spike turned, sensing her approaching from behind him, and the sight of her caused a smile to grace his perfect lips.

"Well now, look at you." He said taking one last puff of his cigarette, exhaling the smoke over his shoulder before flicking the cigarette in to the water. Buffy laughed, running a hand through her now unruly hair as she reached the railing. "Told ya you looked good wearing my clothes."

Goosebumps appeared on her tanned skin and she shivered slightly to add a bit of a dramatic effect. "Too bad there's not more of it."

"I can do you one better than that."

He pulled her toward him, pinning her between the railing and his warm body and wrapping his arms around her as they both gazed out at the scene before them. Buffy took in a deep breath, she loved the way he smelled. It was a mixture of spices combined with cigarettes and something that was just so uniquely Spike she had no other way to explain it.

His hands found hers on the rail and she smiled as he sat them atop hers, squeezing gently as he landed a gentle kiss on the back of her head. The sky was turning a beautiful shade of purple as the sun slowly began to rise, the two lovers watching it in silent awe as they basked in the feeling of just being together.

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"And we stood out there watching the sunrise." Buffy said as she and Willow sipped their morning coffee on their way to class Monday morning.

"Oh my God, Buffy," Willow practically squealed, "that is so sweet! How did your mom react to hearing your bringing Spike over for Thanksgiving?"

"Well, Mom is okay with it, she's too nice not to be." She said as they walked in to their Philosophy classroom. "Dawn will be completely overjoyed at the thought of a celebrity hanging out at the house, something she can brag about to her friends, you know?"

"And your dad?" Willow asked as they took their seats.

Buffy shifted uncomfortably, a small shrug making its way through her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe meeting him will get him to stop thinking that he's some punk kid trying to corrupt his first born. Hopefully his sister and my cousin being there will kind of distract him." She said.

"Maybe," Willow said with a laugh, "but he did make a pretty big deal of those pictures, and you guys weren't even dating then."

"I know," she said, "but I can hope, right?"

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"Stop touching it." Oz scorned as the three men of Flesh of the Passions sat in the makeup department of MTV Studios getting ready to be interviewed. Spike had gotten his stitches removed earlier in the morning and he just couldn't stop touching the mark that still stained his skin.

"Cant, sodding thing itches." He said as he tapped at it again.

He was in full game face, black eyeliner around his icy blues and hair stuck up in a chaotic, purely punk fashion. He was wearing a black Sex Pistols t-shirt with light blue jeans and a bondage belt wrapped around his waist. Instead of his usual dog tags and padlock, he chose to wear the bullet necklace that Oz and Willow had given him upon his release from the hospital, letting it fly solo to show off it's importance.

"So how'd that date with Buffy go?" Oz asked.

A genuinely happy smile appeared on his face as he averted his eyes from the mirror to his apparently interesting black painted finger nails.

"Woah, oh, oh!" Bob said excitedly. "Did Spikey take a little trip to pound town?"

"Watch it." Spike said warningly looking back up at Bob in his mirror.

"Come on, tell me you went toes to Jesus."

"Bob." He warned again.

"Did you play hide the salami?"

"I'm serious."

"Tell me you got up in them thighs!" Bob said as he made some obscene pelvic thrusts from his chair.

"Fuck off ya bloody git!" Spike yelled, jumping out of his chair and stalking over to Bob's.

"What?" Bob asked with an innocent look as Spike glared down at him. "I just wanted to know how you went about making the two backed beast."

Oz's laugh cut the tension like a knife and within seconds, all three men were laughing quietly in the small room. Spike didn't want to laugh, hell, he wanted to land a fist to his bandmate's face to defend his girlfriend's honor, but Bob's unending slur of slang sex terms was edging on hilarious. Spike walked back over to his chair, sitting back down and propping a foot up on the counter in front of him.

"Listen, mate," he said with a laugh still coating his voice, "what Buff and I do with out time together is our business. Not going to discuss it with you two like teenage girls in a high school locker room."

"That's cool, man." Bob said.

"Yeah, I feel the same way about Willow and me." Oz agreed.

"You, too?" Bob asked as he spun around in his chair to face the other two.

"Yeah, man," he said, "Willow and Buffy, they're different. They deserve respect."

"Flesh of the Passions," a young brunette woman with a headset on said as she peeked her head in to the room, "they're ready for you."

The three men stood slowly from their respective chairs, all checking their appearances in the mirror in a true teenage girl fashion before making their ways over to the door. As an almost afterthought, Bob walked up behind Spike and Oz, clapping a hand on each one of their shoulders.

"Your girls," he said, "they got any friends?"

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Buffy and Willow walked in to their dorm building and were surprised to see a large group of girls congregating in the commons room. Up toward the front of the group was Harmony and her clique surrounding the large television they had won for their building in a contest the semester before.

"What's going on?" Willow asked.

Buffy shook her head, not sure herself, as she walked up to one of the girls sitting on the couch toward the back of the room. "Hey, do you know what this is all about?" She asked.

"Yeah, there's an interview with Flesh of the Passions on MTV in a few minutes." She said. "They're announcing their official tour dates tonight."

Buffy glanced over to Willow as her heart took a little bit of a nose dive in to her stomach. All of a sudden the fact that Spike was going to be leaving got incredibly real, and she knew just by Willow's expression that she had felt the exact same thing. Buffy stood slowly, leaning slightly against the couch as Willow approached her. The two friends laced their fingers together in an attempt to give the other some sort of support, something they both needed in boat loads at the moment, as the opening sequence of Rock Your World came on to the screen.

"Hey guys, I'm Julie Jay." The female host, a pretty brunette girl with dark brown eyes wearing a dark red dress and jean jacket with impossibly tall black heels, said from the screen.

"And I'm Ryan Rook." The male host, a tall man with dirty blonde hair wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with a leather jacket, yelled after her.

"And this is Rock Your World!" They said in unison.

"We've got a special treat tonight." Julie said with a giant, fake smile on her face.

Ryan took his cue. "This is their first interview since the recent shooting at a local club found frontman, Spike Pratt, in the hospital from a gunshot wound to the abdomen."

"But he's okay and the entire band is here with him." Julie said. "Ladies and gentlemen, please join us in welcoming..."

"FLESH OF THE PASSIONS!" They yelled in unison as the studio audience, and most of the girls in the commons room, cheered and clapped loudly.

Buffy felt Willow squeeze her hand as they watched Spike, Oz, and Bob walk on to the stage. Spike lifted his hand in a wave as he made his way over to the three black stools set out for them. Spike took the one closest to the hosts, closest to Julie, as Oz sat next to him and Bob claimed the last as his own.

"Thank you guys for coming." Julie said as the crowd's noises died down.

"Thanks for having us." Spike said, plastering his smirk on to his face. Buffy smiled involuntarily as she watched him on the screen. She loved his stage look, she would never try to deny the fact that he looked dead sexy in his eyeliner with spiked hair and vintage looking clothes worn to perfection, but she loved the 'normal' version of Spike just as much.

"So you guys recently found yourselves in quite the situation." Ryan said. The guys all nodded, they knew this would be first on their list of questions. "Want to tell us what happened?"

"I don't know exactly how it started," Spike said, "I wasn't there when he came in."

"Oz, Bob?" Julie asked.

"Well, we were all at The Shadow Gallery celebrating a friends birthday and all of a sudden there was a guy inside with a gun." Oz explained.

"You guys never even saw him come in?" Ryan asked.

"No." Bob said. "All of sudden he was just there and he told everyone to get up and stand by the bar. The bartender, Xander, he gave him the cash from the register and the guy demanded to see the safe. They started walking over to this hallway and next thing I knew there were gunshots and the rest is a blur."

"Spike?" Julie asked.

"There's not much to say," he said with a shrug, "Xander brought the guy to the hallway and I did what I had to do."

"There's rumors saying that you took a bullet meant for someone else." Ryan said.

Spike shifted uncomfortably in his chair, clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck. "There's some truth to that," he said, "but it's between her and I. Any other bloke would have done the same thing."

"Taking a bullet for someone," Julie said shaking her head, "that's big. You're a hero, Spike."

The crowd cheered loudly in the studio as quite a few pairs of eyes in the commons room turned toward her. Buffy kept her eyes focused directly on the screen, watching as Spike tried to hide the smile forming on his lips. "I wouldn't go that far."

"I would." Julie said, pointing to herself and looking around the room to see who agreed with her as another round of clapping echoed through the studio.

"I'd say someone has a little crush on you, Spike." Ryan said as he hit Julie with a playful elbow.

"I do, I do! In fact..." Julie said standing up and walking over to Spike. She jumped up on to his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding her feet dramatically in the air as the crowd cheered. Spike laughed in obvious discomfort as Willow glanced over to Buffy, her blood was running ice cold while she watched this Julie broad all over her boyfriend. "So what do you think, Spike, do I have a chance?"

"Tempting," Spike said as he gently pushed her legs off of him and removed her arms from his neck, "but I have a girl right now."

"Let's talk about that!" Ryan said as a picture of the two of them appeared on the screen behind the guys. Spike laughed and Buffy clearly saw the words 'oh my God' run across his lips as Julie rushed back to her seat. Almost every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at her now and she felt her face turn a nice shade of pink.

Spike laughed. "That would be my girlfriend."

"Pretty little thing." Ryan commented.

"Bloody gorgeous." He corrected, glancing back up at the picture.

"You guys pretty serious?" Ryan asked.

"I'm crazy about her." He said with a rugged smile.

"Does she feel the same way?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I'd hope she does." He said with a light chuckle, the audience breaking out in a fit of laughter.

"Think it will last when you guys go on tour?" Julie asked.

"Uh, we've talked about it and we're gonna make it work, I'd be a right git not to, she's perfect. She's everything I've ever wanted." The studio audience clapped loudly, loving the sight of the soft spot of bad ass Spike Pratt they were currently seeing.

"Hear that, ladies? Julie!" Ryan said laughingly. "Spike Pratt is off the market."

"And as soon as he's not he's mine!" Julie said jokingly jumping out of her chair and making threatening gestures toward the camera. "Mine I tell you!" The guys laughed, Oz putting a hand on Spike's shoulder in an 'it'll be okay' gesture.

"Calm down, Julie." Ryan said as she sat back down on her chair. "Speaking of touring, you guys are about to start a new one, right?"

Spike had had enough and decided to let Oz take on this question. "Yeah, we were scheduled to start on December 2nd in New York but with everything that's happened lately we've decided to add a show before that at The Shadow Gallery."

"Getting back to the incident at The Shadow Gallery," Julie said turning her attention back to Spike, "I noticed that your necklace has a bullet on it."

Spike nodded. "Yeah, it's actually the one they pulled out of my rib."

"How did you get your hands on that?" Ryan asked. The crowd laughed again as Oz slowly raised his hand, putting the most innocent expression he could muster on to his face. "Oz?"

"I asked the doctor for it and she handed it over." Oz said. "I knew he'd love it, I know my Spike!"

Spike laughed along with the audience, deciding it was time to explain the necklace now. "You probably don't know this, but I've got a pretty massive ego," he said as the audience laughed again, "this just kind of reminds me that I'm not immortal, I'm not some type of rich vampire that's never going to die."

"He doesn't twinkle in the sun, either!" Oz yelled, gaining another round of laughter from the audience.

Spike waited for the laughing to die down before continuing. "I could have died that night," he said, "and this is just a little reminder, keeps me grounded, keeps my ego in check."

"He needs it!" Bob said quickly, finally getting a word in on the interview.

Everyone laughed again as Spike jokingly punched Bob in the arm. "Well, thanks for coming out today guys. Tour dates should be running across the bottom of the screen starting..."

"Now!" Both hosts said at the same time.

"You guys want to play a song for us?" Julie asked as the audience erupted in to applause again.

Spike nodded as the guys got up from their chairs and made their ways over to the stage next to the one they were currently sitting on. Oz grabbed his bass, Bob took his spot behind the drums, and Spike adorned his guitar and took his place at the mic, strumming out the first chord of the song.

"This is the best kind of song about the worst kind of people!" He said as he strummed at his guitar again.

Bastards at the gate,

Your walls are tumbling.

Your pretty plastic world is crumbling, crumbling.

Turn up the stereo, this is the end now.

These bastards are your only friends now, oh oh.

Spike rocked his head back and forth, really getting in to the music as her jammed away on his guitar, sweat already forming on his forehead. He and Oz both glanced at one another, big smiles erupting on to their faces before they turned their focus back to their instruments.

They'll use your own self doubt,

Keep you repentant.

They'll get you straightened out,

They'll break and bend it.

Behind that plastic prose,

You use on all your friends,

You're really one of those,

You want to start...

Again!

He jumped up on one of the speakers lining the stage as the crowd loudly cheered for him as he belted out the chorus.

Bastards at the gate,

Your walls are tumbling.

Your pretty plastic world is crumbling, crumbling.

Turn up the stereo, this is the end now.

These bastards are your only friends now, oh oh.

He quickly jumped off of the speaker and made his way to the opposite side of the stage as he sang.

They'll talk in circles now,

They'll lead you nowhere.

They need you broken down,

Get you to go there.

You're acting cool for them,

This lie they made you learn.

Inside it's all broken,

You want to see...

It burn!

He gave them the same show between the verse and chorus, really wailing on his guitar as he shook the sweat from his bleached white hair.

Bastards at the gate,

Your walls are tumbling.

Your pretty plastic world is crumbling, crumbling.

Turn up the stereo, this is the end now.

These bastards are your only friends now, oh oh.

He jumped between the crowd and the stage and sang directly in to the group right up against the barricade as he instructed them to clap their hands in time with the drums. Security was going nuts making sure that nobody jumped over the railings to get to him, but Spike was obviously in his own little world of pure musical ecstasy.

Behind that plastic prose,

You use on all your friends,

You're really one of those.

You're acting cool for them,

This lie they made you learn.

Inside it's all broken.

With just a few strides of his long legs, he was at the stairs leading back to the stage and he quickly ran back to the center of it.

Bastards at the gate,

Your walls are tumbling.

Your pretty plastic world is crumbling, crumbling.

Turn up the stereo, this is the end now.

These bastards are your only friends now, oh oh.

Bastards at the gate,

Your walls are tumbling.

Your pretty plastic world is crumbling, crumbling.

Turn up the stereo, this is the end now.

These bastards are your only friends now, oh oh.

As the song ended, Oz flipped his bass over and the words "Thank You" could be seen spelled out in black sticker letters. The camera did one last shot of the band from a birds eye view before fading to black and starting a commercial break. As if on cue, the door to the stairway opened and everyone's eyes turned to see Spike rush in, still in his Passions persona, and straight up to Buffy.

Without even giving her a chance to say a single word, his hands met her cheeks as he pulled her face to his in a desperately passionate kiss.

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"I'm sorry but I just had to see you." He said as he grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her to him in another fiery kiss.

"Don't be," she said before reconnecting her lips to his, "I was about twenty seconds from jumping on the next bus headed your way."

"No," he said between lip locks, "don't want you riding that thing ever again, least while I'm in town."

He had parked his car in the employee lot of The Shadow Gallery knowing that no one would be there and needing to find a safe haven from the swarm of female trying to paw at him back at the dorm. They were currently in the backseat, making out like a pair of hormonal teenagers, all the while conversing about the interview.

"Just got really real, you know?" Buffy asked as she threw a leg over him, straddling his waist as they continued their game of tonsil hockey.

"My thoughts exactly, luv." He said, running his hands lightly up her ribcage and loving the feeling of the goosebumps he was getting from her. "Don't wanna leave you here, pet."

A sly smile appeared on her lips as she pulled away from him, biting his bottom lip as she went. "What do you want to do?"

He looked up at her, a familiar glint in his eye as a lopsided smirk lit his features. "Right now," he said pushing his obvious erection against her, "I want to fuck you the way I should have the other night."

Buffy laughed gently as she began to pull his shirt off of his body. "I seem to recall you doing just fine."

"Yeah," he said raising his arms as she shed him of the shirt completely, "but the stitches are out now." With no warning whatsoever, she was flipped off of him and her back was meeting the seat of his car as he attacked her neck from on top of her. "Gonna make you scream, make you beg for me, baby."

This wouldn't have been her normal cup of tea, having sex with a guy in the back seat of his car, but with Spike it just seemed to fit. She knew that if for one second she didn't want to do this, if she wanted to go back to his apartment or find a nice hotel room, he would do it in a heartbeat and that may have been what made it so different. His teeth gently scraped at the sensitive skin of her neck as his hand came up to fondle her breast through her clothing.

"Spike." she whispered as her hand found his hair. His hands found the front of the shirt she had been wearing and he made quick work of tearing one side from the other, ripping the buttons holding it closed from their spots and sending them flying around the car. He moved his hands down to the hem of the tank top she was still wearing and slowly began to slide it up her slender body.

"Hi, excuse me!"

Buffy screamed as Clem's voice called in to the car through the front window. Spike quickly jumped off of her and looked around feverishly for his shirt as Buffy tried in vain to re-button her torn one. Giving up on the shirt after a few moments, and another round of knocks on the foggy window from the unknowing Clem, Spike jumped in to the front seat of the car and rolled down the window.

"Can I help you, Clem?" Spike asked, his voice just a bit too high for anyone to believe that he had been doing anything innocent.

"Oh, hey Spike, it's just you!" Clem said, relief obvious in his voice. "I was just walking down to the diner and saw a car parked in here, got a little worried someone broke in to the place again."

"Nope, just me." Spike said quickly.

Clem looked Spike over quickly, his brows furrowing in confusion. "Why don't you have a shirt on?"

"Uh, right, um," Spike stammered, "air conditioning doesn't work." He said finally. "Got a bit hot in here."

"Oh, gotcha." He nodded. "So why are you- is that Buffy back there?"

Buffy had been trying to hide and had found herself on the floor behind the passenger seat. Knowing that she had been caught, she smiled sweetly and tried to act calm. "Hi, Clem."

"What are you doing on the floor?" He asked.

"Uh, lost my earring!" She said triumphantly.

"Yeah," Spike said quickly, "lost her earring so we pulled in here so she could climb back and find it. Don't want her climbing through the car while it's moving, safety and all that."

"Oh," Clem said as his usual smile jumped back in to place, "okay then. Take as long as you need. Hope you find your earring, Buffy!"

"Thanks." She said, giving him another smile.

"Well, I'll see you two later." Clem said as he began to turn away from the car.

Spike rolled up the window quickly before turning around and looking at Buffy. She was folded up like a beach chair on the floor behind his passenger seat and that beautiful blush was tinting her cheeks a wonderful shade of red.

Simultaneously, and without a word said between them, they both erupted in to uncontrollable fits of laughter over another situation that would only happen to the two of them.

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Spike pulled his car up to the average sized home that sat at 1630 Revello Drive and felt his heart speed up its thumping in his chest. He was nervous, meeting your girlfriend's parents was a pretty big deal, but he put up a strong front for her. She had been chatting away at a mile a minute for the past half hour, a tell tale sign of her anxiety over the situation, and he had decided to take on the role of her rock, her anchor in the rough sea that was Thanksgiving at the Summers' house.

Buffy took a deep breath and looked up at the seemingly inviting house in front of them, her so called home, where all of her family was waiting for her to arrive with her new boyfriend. She knew today would be nerve wracking for her, but she had no idea just how nervous she would be until they had actually arrived.

"You alright, pet?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"You sure?" He asked. "I mean, we could just turn around. Have Thanksgiving dinner at some diner on the way back to LA. We can find a lady named Marge and a man named Joe and pretend they're your family."

She laughed at his obvious attempt at humor as she undid her seat belt. "Shut up, Spike."

"I'm serious," he said as he undid his own, "we find a pair old enough they might actually believe it."

She shook her head and opened the door without nearly as much trouble as she had once had, she had been gaining a lot of practice throughout the last couple of days with all the time that they had been spending together. She stepped out of the car and waited as he made his way around to her. He grabbed her hand in his own, cocking his head to the side as he gave her a gentle, reassuring smile.

"You ready?" He asked, his free hand rising to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

She nodded, a small smile making its way on to her own face as she silently pondered just how she had gotten so lucky. "Yeah."

"They're just your folks, luv." He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a light kiss on the back of it. "How bad could they be?"

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"Is that him?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"I think so." Joyce answered as the women of the Summers' family watched the couple through the window with extreme interest and curiosity.

"Oh, God, look at his hair." Hank's sister, Karen, pointed out in a tone that walked the line of disgust.

"He's in a band, Mom." her daughter, Claire, said with annoyance.

Karen turned to Joyce, eyebrow raised in obvious surprise. "Really?" She asked slowly.

"Yeah, Flesh of the Passions, he's like totally famous." Claire said as she snapped a photo of him with her cell phone as he got out of the car.

The couple were both smiling away, obviously finding humor in something that they could not hear from behind the window. Spike rushed around to the other side of the car, black jeans hugging his hips as the dark blue long sleeved shirt clung to him in all the right places.

"He is so gorgeous!" Dawn whispered loudly.

Joyce nodded. "He is quite the looker."

"Looks like a little punk to me." Karen said with a sigh as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Look at that, look at that!" Dawn said smacking Claire lightly on the arm as Spike lifted Buffy's hand to his lips. "Aww, he kissed her hand! That is so cute!"

"The things I would do to him."

"Claire!" All three of the other women yelled in unison.

"What?"

"They're coming!"

The conversation was cut short when Buffy and Spike began making their way toward the door and everyone quickly dispersed in separate directions.

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"Hi, honey!" Joyce said, taking her daughter in to a tight hug the moment she opened the door.

"Hi, Mom." Buffy said as she hugged her back.

After a few seconds Joyce pulled back, turning her attention to the attractive blonde at Buffy's side. "You must be Spike. I've heard a lot about you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Spike said politely.

Joyce smiled, pleasantly surprised by his accent. "Why don't you two come inside? I know everyone is dying to see you."

She moved out of the doorway and Buffy quickly grasped Spike's hand before following behind her. To their right when they entered was the living room which connected directly to the dining room. Joyce walked past that and led them to the kitchen where everyone was currently going about their assigned food preparation tasks.

"Look who's here!" Joyce called as she walked in to the kitchen.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled, running up to her big sister and enveloping her in a hug.

"Hey, Dawnie." Buffy said returning her second hug of the day. As the siblings broke the embrace, Buffy turned toward Spike. "Dawn, this is Spike. Spike, Dawn."

"Oh, I know who you are." Dawn said, completely unable to hide her excitement. As soon as the words left her mouth, however, she immediately felt as if she had just dug herself a grave. "That sounded really creepy stalker-ish." She said quickly.

Spike chuckled. "Not at all, great to meet you, Dawn."

Dawn's smile widened. "You, too."

"Buffy, doll, how are you?" Karen said walking past Dawn and up to her niece. She wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and pat a hand against her back.

"I'm good." Buffy answered. It was evident that the two weren't close as Buffy pulled back out of the awkward embrace. "Aunt Karen, this is Spike."

Karen moved her focus over to the bleached man as she raised an eyebrow. "Spike? That's his real name?"

"It's William, actually." Spike said.

"And you go by Spike?" She practically spat.

"Since I was twelve." He said, tone never faltering and still regarding her with the respect any of Buffy's family members was entitled to in his mind.

She looked as if she was going to say something but quickly seemed to rethink it, putting her hand up in the air as if to say 'forget it' before walking away. Buffy glanced around the room and quickly noticed Claire typing away on her cell phone. She gave a quick introduction before heading to the living room and looking around for her father, not seeing him in any of the first floor rooms.

"Mom, where's Dad?" She finally asked.

"I'm right here."

Buffy and Spike both turned quickly to see Hank Summers walking down the stairs. Spike straightened up instantly, putting both of his hands behind his back and standing tall. The rest of the house got quiet as all of the women peered through the kitchen to see the ordeal go down.

"Hi, Dad." Buffy said quietly, voice shaking just slightly. Spike wanted nothing more than to reach out to her, give her a reassuring hand on the small of her back or anything just to let her know that he was there, that they were going through this thing together.

Hank seemed to look past his daughter and kept his eyes focused on her new beau. "Is this Spike?" He asked.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, Dad, this is Spike. Spike, this is my dad."

"William, if you'd like." Spike said, extending a hand to the man before him. "Honor to meet you, sir." It seemed like forever before Hank finally reached his own out, allowing Spike to grasp it in a strong grip. Spike had shaken hands with a lot of people before and knew how to do it properly, much to Hank's obvious surprise.

"Quite the handshake you've got there." He commented. "You can learn a lot about a man from the way he shakes your hand."

Spike nodded once as they each released the others hand. "Thank you, sir."

"You have football where you're from?" Hank asked.

"Not the kind you're referring to," Spike said, "but I've lived in LA since I was ten."

Hank nodded shortly, turning to the couch behind him and sitting down. "Have a seat, son." He said as he motioned toward the loveseat against the other wall. "Buffy, why don't you go and help your mother out in the kitchen?"

Buffy glanced over at Spike, the last thing that she wanted to do was leave him here if he was uncomfortable with the situation. He met her eyes and nodded, telling her it was okay. Without another word, Buffy walked in to the kitchen and left her boyfriend at the mercy of her father.

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"Oh. My. God." Dawn whispered to Buffy as the two, plus Claire, worked on cutting up the things they would need for the large salad they were making. "He is so hot, Buffy!"

Buffy laughed. "Thanks."

"How did you land him?" Claire asked.

She shrugged. "I really don't even know. It feels like some sort of fairy tale."

Claire snorted as Dawn's lips raised in a giddy smile. "That is so cool! Would he sign my Flesh of the Passions poster?"

"I'm sure he would if you asked him to." Buffy answered.

"This is so awesome, my sister is dating a rock star." Dawn said as she chopped up a head of lettuce.

"So how do you plan on keeping his interest?" Claire asked as she threw the cut up cucumber in to the bowl.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Come on, you know." Claire said, shaking her head in amusement. "Those guys go crazy when they get away Crazy parties, tons of drinking, random sex."

"Spike's not like that." Buffy instantly defended.

Claire laughed coldly. "They're all like that. When the cat's away the mouse will play."

"Trust me, Claire," Buffy said, "I know Spike. He's not the type to just run around with random girls. You should have seen how hard he had to try to just get me to go out on a date with him."

"Well then explain Darla Benz." Claire said.

"Who?" Buffy asked.

"Guitar playing chick for Glory Wire." Claire clarified.

Buffy's brows furrowed, she had no idea what the girl was talking about. Claire sighed and rolled her eyes before quickly typing something in to her phone. After a few seconds, she turned the screen to face her cousin, a picture of a pretty blonde with green eyes on the screen.

"So?" Buffy asked.

"They dated and now they're going on tour together." She said looking at the picture again. "Actually, it's kind of funny how alike you two look. Blonde hair, green eyes, I think someone still holds a torch for an old fling."

Just before Buffy was about to say something back, Joyce walked over. "Just waiting on you three. Are you guys almost done?"

Buffy threw the last couple ingredients she had been cutting in to the bowl, staring at Claire angrily. "We're done."

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The two men sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, both staring at the men running around the field on the large television screen as if it were the most interesting thing they had ever seen. When the commercials came on, however, Hank muted the television and turned to face the man on the couch opposite him.

"You do drugs, boy?" Hank asked.

Spike turned toward the man quickly, a look of pure shock on his features. "No, sir."

"Heavy drinker?" Spike shook his head. "Ever cheat on a girlfriend?"

"Never." Spike answered.

Hank nodded, seemingly trying to sort out what to say next. "Buffy's my daughter," he said, "I know she's not a child anymore, but she's still my little girl. We may not be close, but I still love her more than anyone in this world. I would do anything for her, including being the hard ass that keeps her in line."

Spike nodded. "Understandable." He said.

"I don't know much about you, Spike," he said, "but what I do know is that Buffy is one of a kind."

"No arguments there, sir, never met anyone like her." He said.

"And she deserves to be treated as such." Hank said. "I know how boys are these days, treating women like they're objects that are only around for one purpose. I don't want that for my daughter, she doesn't need a boy," Hank paused for a moment and looked him straight in the eyes, "she needs a man. If you can't be that for her, if you can't be a gentleman and all that entails, then there's the door."

"With all due respect, Mr. Summers," Spike said, "I took a bullet for your daughter." Hank nodded. "I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about with me. You and your wife have raised one hell of a woman and I fully intend to treat her the way that she deserves and nothing less."

Hank nodded. "Alright," he said, "but I'm warning you now that if you ever hurt her, I don't care how little or in what way, I'll kill you."

"If I ever hurt her," Spike responded, "I'd kill myself."

"Everything okay in here?" Joyce asked as she peered in from the kitchen.

Hank nodded, still looking at Spike for a moment before turning to his wife. "Everything's fine."

Joyce smiled. "Well, then come on in. Dinner's ready." Without another word she slipped back through the doorway in to the dining room.

The two men stood and Spike extended his arm in front of him toward the doorway. "After you, Mr. Summers."

"Call me Hank."

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The second Spike had walked in to the dining room he could see that something was bothering Buffy. He sat next to her and took her hand in his under the table and out of the view of the others around them. When she pulled her hand away and began to fiddle with her napkin, however, his face soon fell in to a frown. He glanced over at her and noticed that she was looking down at her hands, purposefully avoiding his eyes.

What the hell had happened?

The food began to make its way around the table and light conversations started to take off. Spike was hardly listening, he was too busy wondering what was bothering Buffy so much that she would pull away from him like that. Everything had been going great, he was on a first name basis with her father for Christ's sake.

"So, Spike," Joyce said, effectively pulling him out of his own thoughts as she passed him the bowl of mashed potatoes from across the table, "where is your family? Are they back in England?"

"No, ma'am," Spike said quietly, "my father died when I was eight and my mother a few years ago."

"I'm so sorry." Joyce said putting a hand to her chest.

Spike shrugged. "It's okay," he said, "I hadn't seen her in years, was raised by my aunt."

"Then why aren't you with her today?" Karen asked from next to Joyce.

"We were never very close," Spike said, "felt more like a burden to her than an actual family member."

"You don't say." Karen said sarcastically. Spike wanted more than anything to say something witty back at the woman, but was surprised when someone else did it for him.

"Don't be bitter because your husband left you for his secretary, Karen." Hank said as he cut off a few slices of the turkey.

He didn't want to, he tried not to, but he couldn't help looking over at her with his character smirk plastered on his face. Her face and neck had turned a deep shade of red at her brother's comment. "I left him, Hank."

"Yeah, because he was sleeping with the secretary." Hank said.

"I would appreciate not talking about this around my daughter, Hank." Karen said glaring at him with an icy stare.

"It's okay," Claire said as she got her turn with the potatoes, "I'm not stupid. I know what happened and I really don't care."

"Well, I do." Karen said, spearing a piece of turkey violently with her fork.

"I hear you're going back on tour soon." Joyce said after a few moments of silence.

He nodded, grabbing the bowl in his hands and setting it on the table in front of him. "Yes, Mrs. Summers. December first."

"That's got to be exciting." Joyce commented.

"Bittersweet," he said, "touring is great, don't get me wrong, but I always miss home and the people I left there." He glanced over at Buffy, relieved when she glanced back at him. He could see a storm brewing behind those forest green eyes, it was killing him not knowing what she was thinking about.

"December first, that's not far off." Karen said, "A week from today, isn't it?" Spike nodded, not saying a word. "Whatever will you and Buffy do?"

"We'll manage." Spike said, not missing the scoff that Claire let out at his statement. "Buffy knows she has nothing to worry about."

"How's Darla Benz?" Claire asked with a smile on her lips and an evil little glint in her eyes.

"Excuse me." Buffy said quietly, putting down her fork and knife on the side of her plate. Spike watched intently as she moved the chair away from the table and quickly walked away. He could hear the sounds of her footfalls meeting each step as she went upstairs.

Everyone at the table glanced over at Claire with questioning eyes.

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Buffy went up to her room and quickly closed the door behind her before flicking on the light. It was just the way she had left it, even the floral bedspread hadn't changed. There were posters and pictures of her and her friends scattered around the walls. The only thing that seemed to have changed at all was her stack of CD's on her desk, it had definitely gotten smaller and she knew Dawn had been 'borrowing' them. She walked over to her bed and sat on the edge of it, trying to sort out all of the thoughts in her head when someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" She asked. The door opened slowly and she wasn't surprised to see Spike walk inside before closing it behind him. He turned around and looked at her. "What?"

Spike put his hands on his hips as he looked down at her, brows furrowed in confusion and his mind dying to understand. "What's wrong, luv?"

"Don't call me 'luv'," she said, "not right now."

He cocked his head to the side. "Did I do something?" He asked.

"Nope, not at all." She said. "That's the problem."

He scoffed lightly, clearly annoyed with her hints and riddles. "Mind putting that in layman's terms, I don't speak tantrum." He said quickly.

"Why didn't you tell me about Darla?" She asked.

"Darla? What?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Yeah, Darla Benz." Buffy was getting more agitated now, using her hands to add emphasis.

"What has she got to do with anything?" He asked.

"She's your ex girlfriend."

He gave her a sideways glance, still not sure what the hell the problem was. "Right."

"You're going on tour with her, Spike!" Buffy practically yelled. "Your touring with your ex girlfriend and you didn't tell me!"

"Because it's a non-issue." He said.

"A non-issue?" Buffy said, quickly standing from the bed and walking up to him. "How the hell is this a non-issue?"

"Because it was a publicity stunt," he said calmly, "went out on two dates almost three years ago. Anya set the entire thing up."

"What?"

"Yeah," he said, "call her and ask her if you'd like. What the hell has gotten in to you?"

Buffy closed her eyes, letting out a long annoyed sigh. "Claire."

He raised an eyebrow. "Claire, your shirty cousin downstairs?"

"One and only."

Spike scoffed, shaking his head. "Stupid bint, what else did she say?"

"Other than the fact that her and I look, like, exactly the same?" Buffy asked.

Spike looked her over a few times, cocking his head to the side. "Only if I was really drunk and suddenly went legally blind."

"Blonde hair, green eyes." Buffy pointed out.

"So does Gary Busey but you look nothing like him." Spike said.

"What is your thing with Gary Busey?" She asked.

Spike shrugged, small laugh making its way between his words. "I honestly have no idea, don't even know if his eyes are actually green, but he is blonde and you do look nothing like him even if you are acting just as insane right now."

Buffy sighed, sitting back down on the bed with her head in her hands. "Why does this have to be so hard?"

Spike sat down next to her, putting and arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. He landed a gentle kiss to her temple as he held her tightly. "Because we care for one another." He said. "This isn't going to be easy, Buff, not for either of us. I'm gonna be missing you like crazy every second of every day while I'm gone, but I'm not going to go near another girl."

"I know." She whispered.

"No you don't," he said, "thanks for saying it, I appreciate the effort, but it's not true. If you knew then you wouldn't have gotten all bent out of shape about it tonight."

Buffy pulled away slightly, looking in to his eyes with unshed tears brimming in her own. "Can you really blame me, Spike? I mean look at me, I'm just some normal little girl who works at a bar your band just happened to play at one night."

"And I'm just a normal little boy that's bloody crazy about you." He said, cupping her cheeks in his hands so she couldn't look away. "That guy that sings for Passions, that rock star that they put on the telly, he's just an act. He's some character I made up and the second I'm off that stage or the cameras turn off, he's gone. This is the real me, luv, not him."

"Spike."

"I'm not finished." He said quickly. "I'm nobody special, baby, just some hopeless romantic that will be up every night wishing I could be with the one and only girl with the key to my heart, dreaming of holding you in my arms, waiting for the next time I can see your face and hear your voice." A single tear ran down her cheek. It wasn't a sad tear, quite the opposite actually, but he gently wiped it away with his thumb nonetheless. "Nobody can compare to you, Buffy, nobody. I'm not going to go out looking for the runner up while the best thing that has ever happened to me is at home waiting for me."

Buffy smiled slightly, blinking rapidly to rid the remaining tears from her eyes. "I don't deserve you."

"No," he said, "it's the rest of them that don't deserve you."

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Don't yell at me for the "Claire clarified" thing. I thought it was funny when I wrote it so I left it there. Also, sorry about the multiple Gary Busey references. They just keep popping up.

Reviews please?