Chapter Two


Buffy reached over, slapping at the shrill blast of noise that had disturbed her dreams. She popped one eye open when she heard a crack and saw that she had hit the alarm clock a little too hard again.



Sighing loudly, she flipped over to her back, staring up at the ceiling before a tiny smile curved her lips as her dream floated back to her mind. She suppressed a giggle as visions of Spike running through her house being chased by the tiny girl she had been a week ago replayed for her.



She still couldn’t believe most of the things she remembered. Spike certainly wasn’t the person she thought he was, a cold blooded killer whose greatest thrill was tracking down slayers and ending their short lives, but a sweet attentive man who had spent his days playing hide and go seek with a four year old. The thoughts alone were mind blowing and she still wasn’t sure if even that thought was correct. *Who is Spike? Who is the man behind the cocky, snarky attitude?*



“You going to lay in bed with that goofy grin on your face all day or are you going to come down for breakfast?” Willow asked as she leaned up against Buffy’s door.



Buffy looked over at the door, smiling as she sat up. “Morning Will.”



“Morning. I made breakfast.”



Buffy inhaled deeply, smiling wider as she flipped the covers off of her. “I can smell. What’s the big occasion?”



“Uh, that would be you and the little secret you’ve been keeping from me.” Willow answered her with a grin. “Remember, you, little girl, a week worth of memories you forgot to mention? That and what ever just put that smile on your face.”



“Oh yeah.” Buffy said, ducking her head slightly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep it from you.”



“Well, come on and you can explain why you did.” Willow said as she turned and walked out of Buffy’s room.



Buffy took a detour into the bathroom, getting herself together before heading down the stairs. Her eyes widened as she entered the Kitchen seeing enough food prepared for a small army even though her and Dawn were the only other ones there. “Uh, Will, over do much?” she asked smiling as she looked at the mounds of bacon, pancakes and eggs.



“Well, I was so wrapped up in thoughts of you remembering that I was a little distracted.” Willow said grinning. “Now sit, I want to hear everything.”



Buffy smiled as she took her seat and Willow piled a plate full of food and sat it down infront of her. Picking up her fork, she pushed the food around a minute before turning and looking at Willow who was staring at her. “What?”



“You know what, now spill.” She said as she leaned her arms on the bar and looked at Buffy.



“Fine, what do you want to know first?”



“Well, how about, do you remember everything?”



Buffy smiled, jabbing at her eggs before taking a bit and chewing slowly. “Yeah, I remember everything.”



Willow’s small squeal made her jump, a giggle escaping her before she shook her head.



“I remember Spike finding me in the training room, Xander’s reaction, everything.”



“All the Spike stuff?”



Buffy looked back down at her plate, a smile tugging at her lips before she slowly shook her head again. “Yeah, all the Spike stuff.”



“And?”



“And what?”



“And how do you feel? About the Spike stuff?”



Buffy really couldn’t answer that one. She didn’t know how she felt about it. She knew she didn’t see him the same way she had a week ago, but what did that mean exactly?



“I mean, if you need to talk about it, you know I’m here.” Willow told her. “I know having Spike around was hard on all of us and you having actually played nice with him must be hard to get a grip on and if anything I know that he’s not going to just go away now that you’re back to your normal self, not after the way you treated him.”



Buffy looked up at her friend, seeing the look on her face and knew she wasn’t happy about the thoughts of Spike still hanging around. Willow never said much about Spike. Buffy thought it was more of her ‘tolerating’ him than anything. No one, with the exception of Dawn had ever been nice to Spike, herself included. Why would that change now? And how could she tell them that she didn’t see him in the same light anymore?



~*~*~*~



Spike had practically beaten his crypt door down waiting for the sun to set before stepping out into the night air. His destination had been on his mind all day and just the thoughts of her put a smile on his face.



Taking a long drag off of his smoke Spike walked quickly through the cemetery. Buffy had treated him like he ‘was’ somebody, not just a thing, the night before and that was a feeling he could get use to and he needed to know if it were just a fluke or if she had finally seen what he had been trying to get her to see for a while now.



Passing the cemetery gates, Spike tossed his spent cigarette to the ground, stepping on it before walking out onto the sidewalk. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, he turned towards Buffy’s house and quickened his steps.



“Well, someone’s in a hurry.”



Spike stopped, his head snapping to the side as he turned and looked behind him. A smile broke out on his face as he saw Buffy leaning against the wall of the cemetery smiling at him.



Buffy pushed off the wall, unsure of what she was supposed to do now. She had been on her way to see him when she saw him walking through the cemetery as she had entered and walked back out to wait on him. “So, where’s the fire?”



“No fire.” Spike said smiling as she walked towards him. “Was on my way to see you actually.”



Buffy couldn’t explain the odd sensation that swept through her at that. Spike had come to see her plenty of times and the thoughts usually sickened her, but now, they left a tingling in the pit of her stomach.



“What are you doing here?” Spike asked, “Kinda early for patrol.”



“Well, I um….I was on my way to see you.” Buffy said quietly, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets as she ducked her head briefly before glancing back up at him.



Spike couldn’t contain the smile on his face as it grew; the slight rush of thumps Buffy’s heart made as it sped up or the pink tint her face had taken on. “Well, this works out nicely then.” He said, taking a few steps closer to her.



“Yeah, I guess so.” Buffy said, a tiny smile gracing her face as she looked up at him. The look he was giving her was one she had seen a thousand times, but this time, she welcomed it. “So, um do ya wanna patrol with me?” she asked softly, the nervousness in her words spilling out and making her cringe at their sound.



“Only if we make it the six hour kind.” Spike said grinning as he stared at her. “Lot’s of evil running ‘round the Hellmouth ya know?” he added in a soft whisper.



Buffy giggled; her face heating up more as she knew she had been caught from the night before. “Okay, six hour patrol coming up.” She said as she turned and headed for the cemetery, Spike following along beside of her. “Sure you won’t get tired of me after a few hours?”



“Never.” Was Spike’s only response. Buffy glanced over at him, the smile on his face causing her own to break into a small laugh. “Okay then, let’s go kill stuff.”



~*~*~*~



The bell above the door rang, three heads turning and smiles lighting up their faces as Willow walked into the Magic Box. Xander, Anya and Dawn were already there, waiting for the nightly Scoobie meeting to begin as Giles walked out of the training room.



“Hey, what took you so long?” Xander asked as Willow took a seat beside of him.



“Oh sorry, I feel asleep waiting for Buffy, but she never showed up. Guess she decided to head on over here instead of coming home first.” Willow said looking at Giles as he approached the table.



“Buffy’s not with you?” Giles asked, removing his glasses and giving them a slight polish before placing them back on his face.



“No, I haven’t seen her since breakfast.”



“Hum, well I suppose she’ll be along directly then.” Giles said moving around the table and picking up a large book from the shelf. “How did her patrol go last night?”



“Okay I guess.” Willow told him shrugging her shoulder as she turned her head to look at him. “She didn’t say she had any problems.”



“Well there shouldn’t be anything left for her to slay after last night.” Dawn said flipping through her history book. “She’s probably already killed it all.”



“What do you mean?” Xander asked confused.



“She was gone for over six hours.” Dawn said absently, glancing up briefly before going back to her homework.



“Six hours!” Xander said loudly, “What in the world was she doing for six hours?”



“I don’t know, killing stuff.”



“Did she say anything Will?” Xander asked, turning to look at his friend. “Is there a new big bad to worry about?”



“No, nothing specific.”



“Well she has had a lot on her mind.” Anya said, jumping into the conversation. “Maybe she was just distracted.”



Dawn’s giggle had them all looking over towards her. “Yeah, her distraction being a very bleached blonde vampire.” She said happily, not even looking up.



“She was with Spike?” Giles asked, finally turning to look at the group.



“Yeah.” Dawn giggled again, “Willow and I caught them out back….”



“Caught them what!?” Xander yelled. “Oh god, please tell me they were trying to kill one another.”



“Geez, calm down Xander, what’s up with you?” Dawn asked, her face a cloud of confusion.



“Sorry.” He said sheepishly, “It’s just…..I don’t know. Has anyone else thought she’s been acting weird lately?”



“Well why shouldn’t she?” Anya asked. “I mean we did turn her into a four year old. It must be a hard transition for her coming back from that.”



“Yeah, not to mention all the repressed disgust of having Spike as her designated best fiend.” Xander laughed.



All eyes fell on Xander, each girl rolling them before shaking their heads.



“What, that was funny.” Xander said. “Don’t you get it, best fiend?”



“Yeah, we get it.” Willow said with a sigh, “So Giles, what’s on the agenda tonight?”



“Well, there really isn’t much to discuss.” He told her. ‘No impending apocalypse to speak of. I was hoping Buffy might have seen something on patrol.”



“Well, speaking of Buffy, is it not rude of her to not even attend her own Scoobie meeting?” Anya asked as she stood up and walked to the counter, “I mean, we do have other things to do.” She said giving Xander a knowing smile.



“Yeah, it’s after eight, she should have been here by now.” Willow added, “You don’t think something happened do you?”



~*~*~*~



Buffy lifted her head, steadying herself on her hands as she looked down at Spike. They were both breathing heavily, the large demon they had been fighting almost getting the better of them both before the killing blow had been dealt and they were both thrown off their feet.



“Nice catch.” Buffy said softly, her face mere inches from his. She wasn’t sure if her shortness of breath was from the fight or the fact that she was lying almost completely on top of Spike and his arms were still in a vice like grip around her waist.



Spike was afraid if he moved or spoke he’d wake up and the dream would end. He stared up at Buffy, who still hadn’t made any attempt to move as she stared down at him, and the feel of her body against his was better than anything he could have ever imagined. Her breathing was erratic and he could feel her heart pounding in her chest and their faces were so close her warm breath played against his flesh sending chills to every part of his body.



Buffy smiled, seeing the almost terrified look in Spike’s eyes and knew their close proximity was having as much effect on him as it was her. He was heaving deep breaths of air he didn’t even need and his once clear blue eyes were getting darker every second. She glanced down at his face, the contours she had tried to erase from her memory coming into focus. She blinked, trying to clear her head as his tongue flicked out, moistening his lip and she couldn’t think of anything else in that moment except if they were as soft as they looked.



“Buffy.” Spike breathed out as he raised his head slightly, raising his hand and sliding it up her back.



Buffy braced her self, knowing he was going to kiss her, her heart pounding relentlessly in her chest as her eyes slowly closed, waiting for the moment she knew would change her life.



“Well, if it isn’t the Slayer and her pet vampire.”



Buffy’s eyes snapped opened and she turned her head, seeing a lone vampire standing off to the side smiling at them.



“Am I interrupting?” he laughed.



*Actually you are* Buffy shouted in her head and her eyes slid into small slit as she grudgingly rose up and stood. Without much more than a flick of her wrist, Buffy hurled a stake into the air, the rush of wind it made as it cut through the air the only noise to be heard before the vamp looked down with a grunt as it imbedded into his chest.



“Oh man.” He said before he looked back up, the world falling away as he turned to ash and fell to the ground.



Buffy sighed heavily, rolling her eyes before she turned to Spike who had picked himself up off the ground. She smiled weekly at him before turning back and retrieving the fallen stake.



Spike watched her and knew he had lost his chance. The moment was broken, there was no way to get that back now. He smiled to himself, knowing that if they hadn’t been interrupted, she would have let him kiss her, that thought alone was almost as sweet as he knew her lips would have been. That was something, right?



Buffy finally turned, seeing the look on Spike’s face and knew he was thinking the same thing she was. He looked every bit as disappointed as she felt. Smiling at him, she pocketed the stake and turned, glancing back over her shoulder. “Come on vampire, we still have four hours to go.”



A smile grew on his face as he slowly walked. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this good. Probably when ‘Little Buffy’ had said she loved him, but this was completely different. Buffy, his Buffy wanted him around and almost kissed him. That was better than anything in this decade or any other he had lived through.





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