"Can too!" Spike glared at the petite blonde smirking at him.

"Nuh-uh." Buffy taunted him. She was positive this was one argument that she was going to win with the blonde vampire. "You just said that to get my mom off your back."

"Listen here Slayer, I bloody well can!" Spike's voice started to rise as he argued with the Slayer.

"Prove it." Buffy played her ace.

"What?"

"Prove it. I don't believe that you can and you say you can so prove it."

"Fine!!" Spike snatched his long black leather duster from the couch and stalked out of the watcher's apartment slamming the door behind him. Willow watched him go from her seat on the couch. Then she turned her gaze on Buffy and raised an eyebrow. Buffy grinned at the closed door.

"Told you that you couldn't." She said triumphantly. Willow sighed and shook her head.

Buffy and Spike had been fighting all afternoon over some stupid comment that he had made to her mother back when he made his deal with the Slayer to overthrow Angelus.

(Sunnydale 1998 Outside Buffy's house)

Spike and Buffy crossed the lawn towards her front door when Joyce pulled into the driveway in her black SUV. She jumped out of the car moving swiftly towards her daughter. Buffy glared at Spike warning him to be good in front of her mother.

"Buffy where have you been? There were these police...and..."

"You mean she doesn't know?" Spike looked at Buffy in disbelief; she glared back at him.

"Know what? Buffy what is going on? And you? Who are you?" Joyce asked finally getting a good look at Spike.

"That I'm...in a band with Spike here." Buffy glared at Spike again until he agreed with her.

"Right. She plays the...triangle"

"Drums..." They both spoke at the same time.

"Yes, she's hell on the old skins." Spike attempted to cover their mistake.

"And you? What do you do?" Joyce asked still confused.

"Well, I sing." Spike stated.

(Present time)

Willow sighed again as the Slayer flounced off to go workout against the pells in Giles' basement. Buffy had been convinced that Spike had simply said that to fool her mother. Earlier that day Spike had made some comment about Buffy's comebacks getting lamer as time went on and she had retaliated by saying that his "singer" comeback hadn't been any better. He had responded that at least he had been truthful whereas she wouldn't know which end of a drumstick was which. Buffy had scoffed at him not believing that he could sing a note, which had lead to the daylong argument between the two, which Buffy now assumed she had won.

Willow knew that Spike actually could sing as he often serenaded her on their walks back to her dorm. She frowned realizing that lately he had been singing a lot of love ballads. She flushed at the hope that sprang up in her heart at the thought that Spike might actually be beginning to see her as an attractive female rather than just another one of the scooby gang.

She shook her head and attempted to return to her book only to have it snatched out of her hands by the Slayer who was grinning foolishly.

"Giles said I have the night off. Come on, let's Bronze it!" Buffy pleaded knowing that Willow hadn't been back to the Bronze since she and Oz had broken up. "It's kareoke night." Buffy knew that the hacker loved to watch the drunken teenage population of Sunnydale make fools of themselves trying to sing along to Cher and 'NSync.

Willow allowed herself to be dragged to her feet and followed Buffy out the door.

"Hey maybe Spike'll show up to prove me wrong!" Buffy joked although from the nasty smirk on her face she wasn't expecting any such thing to happen.

"Maybe." Willow agreed with her own smirk as she imagined the Slayer's chagrin when she was proved wrong.

Willow sighed and sipped her diet coke as she watched some blond bimbo murder the lyrics to I Will Always Love You. She winced as the blonde’s voice cracked on the high notes.

"Buffy..." The blond slayer turned around from reading the list of songs the Bronze was offering for Kareoke night to glance in Willow's direction.

"Nevermind." Willow sighed seeing the determined look on Buffy's face. Right after they had arrived at the overly full nightclub Buffy had excused herself to use the phone. Willow had assumed that she was going to call Riley but instead she had returned to the table smirking having called Spike’s crypt and leaving a message that challenged him to come to the Bronze and prove that he really could sing. So far there was no sign of the bleached blond vampire and Buffy was gloating, there was no way she was going to allow Willow to drag her away until the night was over and Spike hadn't shown up.

The blond on stage finally finished and left the stage admist a round of cheers. Whether the crowd was cheering her singing or just the fact that she was done was up for debate. Willow sighed again and signaled to the waitress to bring her another diet coke as the stage lights dimmed in preparation for the next singer. Willow frowned when the lights dimmed almost completely and a hard bass line started playing. This didn't sound like anything on the registered list. She nearly dropped her coke when the singer started to sing.
I gotta tell you what I'm feeling inside
I could lie to myself but it's true
There's no denying when I look in your eyes
Girl I'm out of my head over you
 

Willow smiled as she recognized both the smooth tenor voice and the lyrics to one of her favorite songs. She clearly remembered the night that she and Spike had gotten caught in a rainstorm on their way back to her dorm. She had insisted that he come inside and dry off before heading back to his crypt. She had left the room to ask one of her neighbors for a sweatsuit Spike could borrow and when she returned had found him flipping through her CD collection.

He had been pleasantly surprised when he discovered that she owned almost the entire Kiss collection. He had admitted to being a fan himself and they had argued about their favorite songs as his clothes dried. She remembered that this particular song wasn't high on his list, as he much preferred the harder rock songs to this love ballad. She knew he had only chosen to sing this one for Buffy's benefit because it really showed off his beautiful voice.
I lived so long, believing all love is blind
But everything about you is telling me this time
It's forever, this time I know and there's no doubt in my mind
Forever, till my life is through, girl I'll be loving you forever

Buffy's mouth dropped open as the stage lights came up to reveal the figure of the singer. The bright lights caught his bleached hair and made it appear that he was surrounded by a halo of light. His ice blue eyes found their table without any trouble and his lips twisted into a victorious sneer as he watched the Slayer gaping at him. She reminded him of a frog with her mouth open like that. He shifted his focus to the other occupant of the table catching the mischievous twinkle in her emerald green eyes as she watched the Slayer stare in horror. He made eye contact with the Slayer and then deliberately turned his gaze to Willow as he sang the next lines of the song.
I hear the echo of a promise I made
When you're strong you can stand on your own
But those words grow distant as I look at your face
No I don't wanna go it alone

Over the past few months he and the witch had become good friends. Their friendship had started even before he had begun helping the Slayer. That night when he had kidnapped her and the whelp she had tried to comfort him, even through her obvious terror her compassion shone through. Then when Oz had betrayed her and he had allowed her to cry on his shoulder they had broken through the barrier of vampire and human and become simply to jilted lovers comforting each other. Since that night Spike had watched in amazement as his feelings deepened for the witch until he was forced to admit that he wanted her for his mate. He was relatively sure that she felt the same way and had determined that this stupid singing challenge was going to discover the truth for him. He knew that she loved this song and the words were perfect, revealing his feelings for her without him having to say anything. If she felt the same way he did she would catch the unspoken message in his eyes and if not, then he hadn't really lost anything.

He moved to the front of the stage and jumped to the floor as he continued to sing.
I never thought I'd lay my heart on the line
But everything about you is telling me this time
It's forever, this time I know and there's no doubt in my mind
Forever, till my life is through, girl I'll be loving you forever

Willow bit back a giggle as the Slayer finally managed to get her mouth shut although she still couldn't control the blush or the look of dismay that had crept across her face as she realized that she had lost yet another argument with Spike.

When the bleach blond jumped off the stage and started towards their table the Slayer had frantically looked for a place to hide convinced that he was going to drop to one knee or do something else to embarrass her as much as possible.

Willow giggled again and then had to swallow sharply to avoid choking as Spike turned his gaze to her. She would swear that she was reading attraction for her in his eyes, attraction...and something even more. Her heart fluttered as she watched him come even closer to her. She had realized weeks ago that she was falling in love with the vampire who had once kidnapped her and now walked her home every night to protect her from the nasties in Sunnydale. She'd held very little hope that he felt anything towards her but a mild friendship but now as he sang to her his eyes held all the emotions of his heart that he couldn't speak.

 I see my future when I look in your eyes
It took your love to make my heart come alive
Cos' I lived my life believing all love is blind
But everything about you is telling me this time

Willow hadn't realized that she had started singing along with the vampire until he reached out a hand to her and pulled her to her feet to stand close to him as their voices joined in a duet.
It's forever, this time I know and there's no doubt in my mind
Forever, till my life is through, girl I'll be loving you forever
It's forever, this time I know and there's no doubt in my mind
Forever, till my life is through, girl I'll be loving you forever

The music ended but neither Spike nor Willow moved or turned their gaze away from each other. Even the Slayer's repeated clearing of her throat didn't faze them.

"Doubts pet?" Spike whispered seeing the myriad of emotions flicking in the witch's eyes. Willow shook her head slightly and finally allowed him to see the love for him shining in her eyes and her heart.

"None. You?" She asked searching his gaze for the answer she longed to find. He smiled a gentle upcurving of his lips as his eyes reflected the love in Willow’s gaze.

"Not this time." Still not breaking their gaze they slowly leaned towards each other only to be stopped centimeters from each other's lips by the Slayer pressing a hand in-between their bodies.

"Spike...I..." Buffy started to say but immediately fell silent as two pairs of eyes flashing with anger turned her way.

"Bugger off Slayer!" Buffy stared in shock at Willow not believing that those words had just come from her mouth. She continued to stand frozen in place as Willow turned and dragged Spike out of the Bronze never looking over her shoulder.

It's forever this time I know and there's no doubt in my mind.

read the sequal 'Lucky Guy'

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