Title: Fluffy Harsh Light of Day (Ep 12 of the Fluffy Files)

Author: Hilary

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Everything I have borrowed from Joss.

Author's Notes: This is part of a series I have lovingly titled The Fluffy Files. I'm taking every ep that Spike has appeared in and twisting it to give it a nice fluffy B/S ending. The eps are not meant to be read in sequence (unless you want to). They are all stand-alone fics which I have just grouped together, sort of a 'how they might get together' thing. In other words ignore any other Fluffy File fics and just pretend this is the first. For each ep just assume that the show has gone more or less as normal up until the point where I start.

Dedications: To Py and Daks for helping me with my ideas and to Iz for nagging...I mean 'encouraging' me to get this finished.

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From his perch outside her bedroom window Spike watched as Buffy climbed into bed, switched her lamp off and settled down. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sat out there. It felt like hours.

"Are you going to come in, Spike?" A muffled voice called from inside the room, making him jump so violently that he almost toppled out of the tree. How did she know he was there? Had she seen him? With a small shrug he pushed the window fully open and climbed in.

"Not surprised to see me, pet?" He asked curiously as she sat up in bed and flipped the lamp on.

"Spike, I learnt a long time ago to expect anything from you."

He grinned and moved forward so that he was stood at the foot of her bed.

"So, nothing I do will shock you?" He asked with a coy smile.

Buffy shook her head and he knelt on the edge of the bed, he hands on either side of her legs.

"Nothing at all?"

He heard her breath catch in her throat as she shook her head again, her whole body quivering with want. A smirk spread across his face as he slowly crawled up the bed until his face was a few inches away from hers.

"Shocked yet?" He whispered huskily.

Buffy whimpered and as she shook her head for the third time Spike caught her mouth in a powerful kiss. Stunned for a moment she did nothing, but she soon began to respond hungrily, deepening the kiss so much that his lips began to hurt.

"God, I've been waiting for this for so long." He panted as she broke away for air.

"Me too." Buffy whispered in between kisses. She reached up and began to tug at his t-shirt....

With a gasp Spike shot bolt upright in bed and looked anxiously around. Harmony was lying asleep beside him and with a sigh he sat back. He'd been dreaming about Buffy again. Every day it was the same, he couldn't remember the last time he slept without seeing her.

His body clock told him it was almost dusk so he got up and quickly dressed. Harmony had made him promise to take her to a party and eventually he'd agreed. Hopefully after this she'd shut up and let him look for his gem in peace. He wanted this over with.

* * *

Buffy was bored. Here she was at a party with a guy whom she'd had lusty thoughts about on more than one occasion but she was still bored.

Parker, her date, was telling her some story about his history class and she found her eyes were wandering around the room taking in the usual group of college students that attended these parties. It was the same thing every time, go to a party, drink, go home. As much as Buffy wanted a normal life, she was suddenly filled with the urge to go out and patrol, it had to be more fun than what she was doing right now.

"Buffy? Are you listening?"

"Hmmm?"

She turned back to Parker and realised that he had been talking to her. She forced herself to smile.

"I'm sorry, Parker. I must have zoned out there for a second. What were you saying?"

He reached out and took her hand, gently stroking it with his thumb.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright? You seem kind of distant."

She nodded, resisting the urge to pull away from him.

"I'm fine, I guess I'm just a little tired."

"Do you want to dance? Might wake you up a little."

Buffy shook her head and disentangled her hand from his.

"A drink then?" He asked, persistently

She glanced over to where the large selection of drinks was being stored. Well, a change of scenery would be nice.

"Ok, what do you want? I'll get them."

As she stood Parker also climbed to his feet.

"I'll go with you."

Buffy rolled her eyes; this was starting to get just plain annoying. They made their way over to the drinks and it was then that Buffy saw him, his arms holding up some guy with a blonde girl on the other side. Almost as if he sensed her his eyes suddenly met hers and he froze.

"Spike." Buffy greeted. She wished she could say that she was surprised to see him here, but she wasn't. He was always one who did what he pleased.

Her eyes drifted over to Harmony and she couldn't help but grin.

"Well, I have to say your taste in women is still as insane as it ever was."

If Spike was fazed by Buffy's indirect mention of Dru he didn't let it show. Instead he just smirked and glanced over at Parker.

"Well, pet. See you didn't waste too long before jumping the first good looking guy that came along after Peaches upped and left."

"How did you know that Angel left?" Buffy asked curiously.

Spike shrugged "Word gets around."

By this point Parker was feeling totally out of the loop, he decided to bring himself back into the conversation.

"So, you're a friend of Buffy's, right?"

Spike merely glared at him for a moment before turning his attention back to Buffy.

"You've picked a good one here, pet. I know the type, he'll tell you everything you want to hear, you'll shag and then he'll move onto the next one."

Parker stared at him in disbelief, he'd known this guy for about 5 minutes and already he seemed able to see right inside him

"B-Buffy I-I..."

The way he stammered told her that Spike was telling the truth, but there was no way she was going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Spike, the day I start taking lessons in love from you will be the day that I die."

By this point Harmony was growing beyond impatient. The point of coming to this party in the first place was so that she and Spike could kill someone together and maybe grow closer. He'd been so distant ever since he'd started searching for his stupid ring.

"Spikey, can we go? I'm getting hungry."

Buffy glared at her. "Harmony, will you shut up for two seconds, can't you see I'm talking to my ex here?"

The whole group fell silent, including Buffy. She had no idea what had made her say that. Maybe she just wanted to spice up what until this point had been a boring evening. Plus, making Spike and Harmony suffer a little was always fun and it might give Parker the message too.

Spike was staring at her like she'd grown an extra head and it was all she could do to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Ex? What the hell are you talking about?"

She reached out and gently caressed his upper arm.

"Come on, Spike, you can't deny everything we had together. Some of the best days of my life were with you."

If Harmony had still been alive her face would have been red with rage. She pulled the body they were carrying away from Spike and dumped it on a nearby couch.

"You have got to be kidding me. You and her?"

Spike grabbed hold of Buffy's arm and pulled her away, leaving Parker and Harmony alone together.

"So," Parker asked with a smile. "Are you a student here?"

"What the hell are you doing?" He hissed.

"Just having a bit of fun, besides, I needed to get rid of Parker."

"FUN?? You're insane!" He hissed.

Buffy pouted. "I thought that's what you liked in a girl.

The two of them fell silent as their eyes moved over to where Parker and Harmony were still talking.

"You wanna go outside and fight?" Spike finally asked.

Buffy shrugged. "Sure."

* * *

"So what happened with Dru?" Buffy asked, as she ducked a punch Spike threw at her. "She dump you again?"

They had been doing this for a while now, although neither of their hearts seemed to be fully into the fight. It was closer to sparring than anything else.

"So what if she did?" Spike replied as he jumped back from a kick that was aimed at him. "Angel dumped you too."

"He did not dump me." Buffy snapped as she tried to land a combination of punches on him. "He just left, that's all."

"Same thing if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't. And what are you doing back here anyway, it has to be something more than to talk about our love lives or lack of."

Spike wasn't sure how to answer this. If he told her he was looking for a gem that would make him unkillable he was pretty sure she'd stake him right there.

"Thought I'd come and look up my favourite Slayer." He half lied. "After all, nothing's more fun than making your life hell."

Buffy grinned. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, it's working. No, are you going to attack me properly or just stand around like a beached moron."

Spike growled semi-playfully. "Tough words, pet. You sure you can handle me?"

Buffy raised her fists. "Show me what you've got."

With a snarl Spike lunged at her and she quickly sidestepped, dealing a powerful kick to the centre of his back. As he spun around to face her she moved in to attack. He was ready for her however, and grasping hold of her arms he flipped her over his head so that she landed on her back. He grinned with satisfaction but it soon faded when she grabbed hold of his ankle and yanked him over so that he fell on top of her.

"Giving in to your feelings at last?" He asked with a smirk. "I knew you couldn't resist my evil charms."

"You wish. Now get off me." Buffy struggled beneath him but it was useless.

Spike was suddenly struck by how similar their positions were to the ones in his dream. Not being able to help himself he leant down and kissed her.

Buffy froze as she suddenly felt Spike's lips upon hers. She wanted to say it was repulsive but in fact as far as kisses went it was pretty damn good. She allowed herself to relax and began to kiss him back when she realised just what she was doing. She was kissing Spike. She was kissing a vampire. She was kissing the person who had tried on more than one occasion to kill her and her friends. This was insane.

Breaking from the kiss she kicked Spike off her and jumped to her feet before he knew what was happening.

"I can't do this." She said, wiping her hand over her lips.

"Buffy..." Spike began, but before he could get any further she turned and ran into the night. With a sigh he climbed to his feet and slowly began to make his way home.

* * *

Willow sat bolt upright as Buffy burst into their dorm and threw herself down on the bed.

"Buffy, are you ok? Did something happen with Parker?"

She shook her head and pulled a pillow over her head, trying to blot the images of Spike out of her mind. Even more so she tried to forget how good his lips had felt upon hers.

* * *

"What the hell did you kiss her for you wanker?" Spike muttered to himself as he entered the cave he was using as a lair. "She's never going to come near you again now."

He was vaguely aware of Brian hovering behind him and he turned to face his minion.

"What do you want?" He snapped, wanting nothing more than to be left alone at the moment.

"I-I think I've found it." Brian stammered, moving over to where a map of the tunnels was spread over the table. He pointed to a small cavern.

"Are you sure?" Spike asked, pushing thoughts of Buffy to one side for now. He'd have time enough to think about it once he had his gem.

Brian nodded and a grin spread over Spike's features. Things were starting to look up after all.

"Ok, I'm going to start digging. Tell Harm to stay inside from now on, if she gives you any trouble send her to me and I'll deal with her."

Brian shifted on his feet, clearly uncomfortable. "She hasn't come back yet."

Spike shrugged. With any luck she'd stay out too late and get dusted by the sun.

* * *

Harmony laughed as Parker finished telling her one of his stories about something he'd done in High School. It was amazing, not only was this guy human, but he actually made her happy and that was more than she could say for Spike.

Smiling at her laugh Parker reached out and brushed her hair away from her face.

"You know, I've never met anyone like you before Harmony. Your friend Spike was right, every single girl I've met I've used. It's weird though, I don't think I can do that to you."

Harmony smiled. "I'd kill you if you did."

She meant it too, if he did anything to hurt her she'd rip his throat out. Now was the time to find out just how serious he was about her.

"Parkey, I need to show you something, and I think you're going to freak out when you see it."

Parker looked nervous but he took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. Harmony locked eyes with him and allowed her demonic visage to come forward. Parker yelped but didn't move; instead he stared intently at her with wonder in his eyes.

"You're...a vampire?"

Harmony nodded and let her human face slice back into place.

"I guess you want me to stay away from you now." She said with a sad sigh. "Human and vampire relationships are-"

She was silenced as he caught her mouth in a passionate kiss.

* * *

After spending a restless night trying not to think about Spike and a boring day of classes, Buffy was glad to be out on patrol. At least when she was fighting she had something to vent her frustrations on.

A low growl drew her attention to three demons making their way through the cemetery.

"Time to slay."

She hurled herself at the first demon, dealing it a selection of punches and kicks in an attempt to put it on the retreat. Unfortunately while she was attacking, its two friends pulled her off him and began their own assault. Buffy did her best to fend them off but with two of them holding her while the other attacked it wasn't exactly easy.

The more she struggled the more she felt her strength starting to ebb. This was what she got for trying to use three large, scary demons as a punching bag.

Suddenly she felt one of the demons let go of her arm and she quickly swung around to punch the other one that was holding her. As he let go of her she turned her attention to the demon in front of her, the one who had been attacking her. With a snarl of rage at allowing it to make her feel weak she launched a powerful attack until she eventually snapped its neck.

Turning her attention to the remaining two demons she was stunned to see that one of them was already being taken care of, by Spike. Pushing her feelings of shock and curiosity to one side for the moment she attacked the remaining demon until it lay dead next to its friend. Looking back over to Spike she watched him kill the third demon with a feral snarl before he noticed her.

Straightening from his fighting posture he let his human features slide back into place before making his way over to her.

"Well, that was fun." He said casually, not wanting her to see just how pleased he was to see her. "Did you have fun playing with the big, scary demons?"

Buffy couldn't stop staring at him. He'd saved her. Spike had saved her.

"Spike....I...." Somehow she couldn't find the words to say, well, anything to him. This seemed to amuse him and she scowled as a smile curled up at the corner of his lips.

"I think the words you are looking for are 'thank you'."

Buffy shook her head, trying to clear it. This was crazy, Spike was supposed to be trying to kill her, not saving her life, and certainly not kissing her.

"What is this?" She finally asked. "Is this some sort of game you're playing with me?"

For once Spike didn't know what to say. He wished he could tell her the truth, that he'd been unable to stop thinking about her since he's left Sunnydale. He wanted to tell her the real reason he'd come back the last time. But words failed him. Unfortunately, the look on his face was all Buffy needed

"Spike, I'm going to ask you something, and I want an honest answer. Are you in love with me?"

He sighed, no point denying it now. "Yes."

"Oh God!" Buffy sat down heavily on a nearby gravestone, her legs suddenly unable to support her. She wished she could just tell him that she hated him, but deep down she did feel something for him, that was why she couldn't stop thinking about the kiss they had shared the other night. However, she was also acutely aware of the fact that things hadn't worked out with Angel, who was good, how on earth was it meant to work with a demon like Spike.

"Do you know why Angel left me?" She asked, finally daring to make eye contact with him.

"No." Spike replied softly.

"He told me that he wanted me to have a normal life with someone I'd be able to walk in the sun with. I argued of course, telling him I didn't care about that stuff, but I think maybe he was right. I may not want that now but some day I will."

"I may not be able to give you a normal relationship." Spike agreed. "But you're not a normal girl. Do you really think a regular Joe could deal with what you do? With your strength?"

"I don't know, but I should at least be given the chance to find out. Besides, I've tried the whole vampire/slayer thing, it didn't work out."

"So that's it?" Spike asked incredulously. "You won't give us a chance because it didn't work out with Angel? We're completely different."

Before Buffy could answer Harmony appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and threw her arms around Spike, hugging him tightly.

"Spikey, I'm so happy." She gushed. "We have to break up."

Spike looked confused at this. "You're happy because we have to break up?"

"I'm in love." She sighed happily, pulling away from him. "But not with you."

Spike smiled, there was something quite amusing about seeing her as happy as this. "So, who's the lucky guy?"

"Hi." A male voice called from behind them, causing them all to turn.

"Parker?" Buffy exclaimed upon seeing her semi-ex. Harmony ran over to him and kissed him passionately.

"Parkey's taking me to France." She smiled.

"Does he know about your...condition?" Spike asked, barely believing what he was seeing.

"Yeah, I know she's a vampire." Parker smiled, gazing lovingly at Harmony. "It doesn't bother me."

"It's so weird." Harmony said. "I always thought vampires and humans were natural enemies, but he makes me happier than anyone else ever has."

Parker grinned and pulled her into another kiss. "Maybe we should go somewhere more...private."

Harmony giggled. "Again? Man, you've got more stamina than anyone else I've ever.... met."
"Hey! Spike protested, but neither of them were listening to him.

Glancing over her shoulder she waved goodbye to Spike and the lovesick couple quickly made their way back towards the college campus.

"Well, that was weird." Buffy finally said, once they were out of sight.

"Harm's got a point though." Spike said softly, moving closer to her. "There's no reason we shouldn't be together just because under normal circumstances we'd be enemies"

As he laid a hand on her arm she jerked away. "It's not just that, Spike. Look, I just can't do this, ok. Stay away from me."

Just as she'd done the night before she ran off, leaving Spike to walk dejectedly home.

* * *

As Spike re-entered the lair his eyes fell on the plans of the tunnels, the place where the gem was supposedly hidden circled in red pen. Buffy's words rang in his ears.

Suddenly he knew what he had to do, his last chance to try and win Buffy over. If this didn't work then nothing would.

* * *

Buffy sat on a bench outside the college, a book resting in her lap as she ate her lunch. The sun warmed her face and she realised just why Angel had told her she needed a regular boyfriend. How could she be expected to give this up?

Her thoughts turned to Spike, it had been almost a week since she'd left him in the cemetery and she hadn't heard anything from him. Clearly her words had hit the mark, and part of her was slightly disappointed. She'd expected him to try a little harder before giving up.

"What are you saying?" She muttered to herself. "You told him to go and he has, you should be happy."

"Talking to yourself, luv?" An all too familiar voice asked. "That's never a good sign."

Jumping to her feet she was stunned to see Spike standing before her, the sun glittering on his bleached hair.

"How....what....how?" She stammered, unable to take her eyes off him. He held up his hand to reveal a small green gem on a ring on his finger.

"That's pretty." She mused, still not understanding how he was able to stand in the daylight without bursting into flames.

"The gem of Amarra." Spike explained. "It renders the wearer unkillable, which means I get to work on my tan."

Before she could say another word he marched over, grabbed her by the arms and pulled her in for a bruising kiss. It seemed to go on for an eternity, Buffy sagging against him as she remembered how good the first one had been. Finally Spike pulled back to allow her to breathe.

"It also means if you stake me for doing that it won't have much of an effect."

He looked at her questioningly, waiting to see if she was going to reject him again. A range of emotions played across her features, mostly confusion, until finally her eyes met his. He froze, waiting to see what she would do.

Stepping towards him she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him roughly forward. He braced himself, waiting for her fist to connect with some part of his face. However, instead he found himself locked in an even more passionate kiss than the previous one. He could barely believe it was happening. As they parted Buffy smiled.

"Fancy a walk in the sun?" She asked him, almost shyly.

"I thought you'd never ask pet."

The End