*~*~*~
 

*~ "SPIKE!" everyone gathered in Willow's living room flinched at the outraged roar of their redheaded comrade, her voice nearly making the windows shudder. "GET YOUR ASS IN HERE BEFORE I KICK IT ALL THE WAY TO NEBRASKA!"

*~ "I think that means she's mad," Anya stated dryly, turning to look at the rest of the group, who were a little in shock at the sheer volume and anger of the yell.

*~ "I've never heard her yell like that," Buffy said, her voice an awed whisper, as she looked, wide-eyed at the cringing blonde vampire. "What'd you do?"

*~ "I -" the vampire started to say, but was cut off by another loud, angry shout followed by a loud *thump*.

*~ "SPIKE! I'M GOING TO STAKE YOU AND GIVE YOU TO BUFFY AS A PRESENT IF YOU DON'T FIX THIS *RIGHT NOW*!"

*~ If it were possible, the vampire in question would have paled even more as he hesitated, trying to get up enough nerve to go up and do his best to placate the angry redhead. "I think you'd better go up there before she comes down here," Xander said, his dark eyes twinkling as he tried not to laugh. "Actually, stay down here. I'd kinda like to see the show."

*~ "Shut up," Spike grumbled, his tone lacking heat as he slowly got to his feet, looking for all the world like a child waiting for a serious ass- whipping. He shuffled his feet on the way to the stairs, trying to be as slow as possible.

*~ "Oh, look, the big, bad, evil, hostile is scared," Riley mocked, grinning crookedly at Spike's discomfort. At the resulting snickers, and another
bellow from upstairs made the vampire move at a more normal speed up the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, Anya, Xander, Buffy and Riley scrambled up after him, huddling as close to the door as possible so that they could hear what was going on. Giles just shook his head and went into the kitchen to add more milk to his tea. Children...

*~*~*~

*~ "What is my number one rule concerning my laptop?" the petite redhead stood in the middle of her room, her hands planted on her hips and her feet shoulder-width apart as she glared at her roommate. Spike had never seen her this angry over anything... But she was magnificent. Her face was flushed with color almost matching her hair, which was pulled back in as much of a ponytail as she could manage... And she was half-dressed. Well, dressed as much as a t-shirt and panties and nothing else.

*~ She'd decided to take a quick shower while everyone finished up the research because they were all going out after they were done- apparently she'd been in the middle of dressing when she'd tried to answer her email.

*~ "Don't touch it," the vampire said, his voice coming out weaker than he'd intended it. He cleared his throat and tried to look and sound tougher. His body language and expression clearly stated 'I touched it, so what? What're you gonna do about it?'

*~ She advanced, her emerald eyes narrowing to slits as she spoke carefully or else she'd be yelling again, "Do you realize you erased *all* of the files and programs on my computer?"

*~ Outside the door, the four exchanged wide-eyed glances. No wonder she'd been pissed.

*~ "I didn't know, luv, honest," the blonde vamp winced as his back hit the door. He hadn't even realized he'd been backing away.

*~ "If you *ever* touch my laptop again, I'm cutting your fingers off, got it?" Right in that second, Spike believed she would.

*~ "I love you, pet," he tried to look as innocent as possible. Her shoulders deflated as her anger disappeared. She shook her head and turned back
towards the bedroom.

*~ "I don't know how I'm going to get it all back," she said, her voice tired as she looked at the small black computer sitting on her desk. "Most of the programs had been sent to me, and I don't know if I can get them again. Close to a thousand dollars worth of programs. Damnit, Spike, what were you looking for?"

*~ He knew if he told her the truth- that he'd been looking at the 'vampire' sites to see if they *really* knew anything- she really *would* cut off his fingers... all of them. Hell, she'd cut off his hands- at the elbows. He moved in behind her and gently touched her waist, pulling her back into a, he hoped, comforting hug. "I'm really sorry, luv," he said, meaning it. "I blew this one to hell, didn't I? What can I do to make it up to you?"

*~ At first, Willow hadn't wanted Spike to touch her. It was hard to stay mad at him when he touched her... Shit, it was hard for her to *think* when he touched her. They weren't together as lovers or even boyfriend-girlfriend, but she regretted it that they weren't more.

*~ "Just don't touch my computer again," the redhead sighed, leaning back into his embrace.

*~ Spike moved his hands from her waist to rest across her stomach. "I won't, pet," he promised. "And I'll pay to get it fixed."

*~ She shook her head, "No, don't worry about it. I'll see what I can do-."

*~ "No arguing," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "I'll pay for it, if you can find someone to fix it for you."

*~ Willow nodded after a long hesitation before she turned around in his arms. She'd made a decision, one that could make or break their relationship. Her heart was beating fast- she knew he could hear it and it made it worse. She was so afraid he'd reject her and then where would that leave them?

*~ "Spike," she whispered, looking at the collar of his shirt instead of into his face.

*~ He could feel her nervousness and hoped it was because she was going to tell him how she felt. Or something like that. He just wished he, the badass vampire, could get enough courage to tell her first. "Yes, pet?"

*~ "I want to kiss you," she continued, her voice almost breathy. "Really, really bad."

*~ "Well, I'm not going to stop you," he grinned, lifting her face with one finger so she could look at him. Her green eyes shone like emeralds as her pink little tongue escaped to lick her bottom lip. Groaning, he took the last step and met her lips with his.

*~ The four eavesdroppers froze, then broke out into wide grins. They all knew this was going to happen. Hell, they'd *hoped* this was going to happen, for almost the same reasons. Buffy and Xander both wanted Willow to be happy and for some obscenely odd reason, Spike seemed to make the redhead happy. Anya, strangely enough, wanted everyone to be as... sexually liberated as she and Xander were. And Riley... He knew the witch and the vampire would balance each other. Well, just think of it... A witch and a vampire. It just kinda sounded good.

*~ Speaking of which, behind the closed door, there was a muffled *thud* as said witch and vampire hit the mattress of Willow's bed. There was a chorus of giggles as the eavesdroppers realized what must be about to happen.

*~ "Bloody hell," the vampire roared, reaching for the nearest heavy object and flung the clock at the door. "Get a bleeding life and get out of ours!"

*~ "Gladly," Anya stated, her brown eyes twinkling as she grabbed her boyfriend and headed back down the stairs. "We're going home to have sex."

*~ Buffy and Riley looked at each other and followed the former demon. "I'm calling you later, Wills," the slayer threatened as she started down the stairs.

*~ There wasn't a response as Willow and Spike took the last and final step in their relationship.

THE END!!!

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