Elizabeth woke with a contented yawn and blearily opened her eyes. A jolt of pure giddy delight passed through her body when she saw the visage of the man she loved on the pillow next to her. There was this wonderful little flutter in her chest, and she suddenly felt that, despite everything that was difficult in her life right now, everything would work out, everything was perfect just as long as she still had him.

With a happy little murmur, she pulled herself closer to him, tucking his platinum curls under the crook of her neck and wrapping a casual arm and leg over his nude body. God, this just felt…amazing. Had this been how it had always felt for him? If so, she was deeply envious that he’d fallen in love first. But now that she had a taste of these glorious new sensations, she was damn well going to fight just as hard as he had to keep them.

“’Morning, love,” she whispered softly, pressing a soft kiss to his snowy-white hair.

He murmured slightly against her throat in response and snuggled deeper into her embrace, still asleep but smiling happily in his rest.

“Love you,” she cooed gently, stroking her fingers along the strong lines of his back in a comforting manner. “Love you so much, Spike…”

A few incoherent, mumbled syllables, a brush of his lips across her shoulder, and then she felt the very real expression of his desire pressed hard against her inner thigh.

“God, you’re so hopelessly horny,” she teased lightly. “Luckily for you, so am I…” A wicked little idea flitted through the back of her mind, and she pushed on his shoulder, encouraging him to lie on his back.

He fell, and his eyelashes began fluttering slightly, waking up at the loss of the wonderful propinquity of her body. “’Liz’beth…” he muttered, still half-asleep.

She crawled up over him and smiled down at the beautiful form of her boyfriend. Men usually weren’t ‘beautiful’ to her, but Spike… He was so perfect – body, mind, heart, soul. He was a work of art, a creature of pure beauty, and she just had to show him that He. Was. Everything.

Her mouth dipped down to press feather-soft kisses to each of his closed eyelids in turn, urging him to awaken and experience her love for him once more.

A flash of deep blue appeared from under his long lashes, and his body began moving beneath her, lean muscles stretching in the most sensuous ways…

Her mouth lowered to his Adam’s Apple, and she sucked gently of the prominent feature, lathing it with her tongue.

He was definitely waking now, his arms wrapping around her back and his hips thrusting upwards, desperate to find something to rub his swollen erection against. “’Lizabeth?” he voice was still slurred slightly from slumber, but there was a definite consciousness behind it now.

“’Morning, my love,” she agreed, peppering kisses across the pulse points of his throat.

“Mmm…” he sighed happily, “’morning…”

“Nice way to way up, I take it?” she inquired, slipping down to the line of his collarbone and tracing it with her tongue up one shoulder and then back down to the other.

“God, yes!” he exclaimed, pressing his hardened cock into her thigh in answer.

“I hoped you would like,” she said in a sultry voice, looking up into his eyes for the first time since he had awakened and fluttering her lashes in a mock-innocent manner. Her head then lowered again, and her teeth found a flat nipple.

He squirmed and groaned as he felt her nibble at him, savoring his taste. The blissful thought drifted through his mind: Life doesn’t get any better than this… Or, apparently, it did.

“Christ!” he exclaimed, eyes wide as her tongue plunged into his navel, thrusting into him in a persistent manner.

She gave him an evil grin and fought off the hands that tried to pull her back up to him. “Just let me make this time about you, OK, baby?” she requested with uncharacteristic shyness. “I wanna show you, make you see…” She trailed off. “I love you…”

He groaned. “A bloke can’t very well refuse an offer like that, now can he?” he agreed, forcing himself to lie back and enjoy her attentions. He let out a resigned sigh, pretending this was such a great loss.

She laughed and shook her head. “God, you’re hopeless,” she decided for the umpteenth time.

“And you know you love it,” he shot back.

“Yeah,” she agreed softly, “I do…” Her head ventured lower…

…And his eyes widened. “Elizabeth,” he said seriously, his hand stopping her as her cheek moved to rub against the length of his erection.

“William,” she replied confidently.

“Y-You don’t have to…” he insisted.

“Shh,” she whispered softly, her cheeks flushing slightly. “I-I wanna try,” she assured him. “I mean, I’ve never…except for, well, when…”

“I ever find the wanker that did that to you, and ‘ll rip his parts off for good,” Spike hissed with such vehemence that Elizabeth didn’t doubt it was the case. She made a mental note not to ever let Spike get anywhere near Angel, even if the idea of revenge still was quite sweet.

“If I don’t beat you to it,” she agreed before turning her attention back to the swollen tip of his cock which was still weeping with precum. It looked so much larger up close but no less appealing and… Her face flushed slightly. “I’ve never before,” she repeated, somewhat embarrassed, “and I want to…with you, and…I mean, if you don’t want to, it’s all right, but—”

He cut her off before her embarrassed babbling got out of hand. “Yeah,” he agreed, “but you don’t hafta to prove it to me.”

“No proving,” she assured him, fingers tangling with his, “just wanna…” Her lips cautiously lowered and kissed the very tip of him.

His head fell back and he groaned in response, his fingers going limp in her grasp. “’Lizabeth…” he whispered worshipfully.

Elizabeth felt a little jolt of excitement run through her at the intensity of his reaction. She’d barely even done anything yet and…wow…how would he react if she…?

Her tongue flicked out for a second, catching the drop of milky fluid at his very tip. She was surprised to find it not unpleasant. There was a bit of a salty tang to it, but it wasn’t very strong. A rather innocuous flavor given all the high-school gossip about swallowing and the unpleasant side-effects…

His response was even better this time. He was squirming beneath her, his lands clutching helplessly at the sheets, babbling incoherently about how good she felt.

Her eyes widened in surprise and delight. Wow. Did she do that when he went down? Because, if she did, she was starting to see why he liked to do it so much.

Encouraged by his responsiveness, she parted her lips slightly, tasting his head for the first time. It was very…different from what she’d expected. A part of her had always thought of this as a degrading act, something that Angel’s attempted assault had no doubt supported. But the feel of Spike in her mouth… It allowed her to perfectly sense where to give him the most pleasure. Her tongue instinctively responded, tracing every throbbing vein she could find. She could feel the power she had over him, and she reveled in it. She needed this power to show him that she would only ever use it to bring him pleasure, that she would never, ever hurt him with it. It was an act of pure trust, of giving him bliss because she loved him and wanted to show it to him in every way imaginable…

Spike moaned out in a ragged gasp when her tongue found a vein that not even he had realized was so sensitive. It completely blew his mind away how wonderful this felt. Yeah, it wasn’t his first time doing this, but…god, it had never been like this before. He’d never felt so completely lost, all his careful control slipping away. Just his raw, pure self opened up for her to see and not fearing in the slightest for his safety… It was pure bliss.

Growing bolder at how clearly Spike was enjoying this, she began to suck up and down on him slowly. She knew she had a gag reflex and didn’t want to spoil this for him in the slightest, so she wrapped her fist around his firm base, enclosing him with both hand and mouth as she began to pump.

God, he was so spectacular up close! The skin was so soft, yet strength and hardness were buried beneath it. His flesh was smooth, warm, delightful and tasted of that Spike flavor she’d come to savor. In fact, it was like Spike concentrate, and she felt as though she could never get enough.

His hips were moving slightly against her now, unable to control himself. The feel of her warmth surrounding him, it was… He couldn’t even begin to describe it. It was just too much, and he…

He made the mistake of looking down at the blonde head between his thighs, and that was his undoing. Before he could even let out a gasp to warn her, he was coming hard and fast, the pleasure blackening the world around him and wrapping him in its all-encompassing embrace…

Elizabeth’s eyes widened when he came into her mouth. She really hadn’t thought about what she’d do in this circumstance, but…it was just instinctual now. She wanted him inside her. Completely. And the taste wasn’t half bad…

When he was done, she lazily licked him clean, watching with fascination as the blood swelled up within him once more. One hand stroked him fondly while her mind was amazed. He was so large, and she was so tiny. How on earth was it possible that they could fit so perfectly together? It was nothing short of a small miracle to her, but she felt her pulse quicken at the tenderness he always showed her turning their lovemaking. And, god, she wanted him right now…

“Wakey, wakey,” she teased lightly, crawling up the unconscious form of her lover.

A purely masculine sigh escaped his lips, and he looked up at her with the most blissfully idiotic grin on his face that she’d ever seen. “Luv…” It seemed to be the only word he was capable of speaking at the moment.

She caught his lips in a passionate kiss, letting him understand that she could feel the emotions within him, even in his current incoherent state.

Their tongues intertwined lazily, dancing to a rhythm as old as time.

“You know, I read this article the other day,” she teased lightly, pulling away to catch her breath.

“Oh?” he asked curiously.

“Yup,” she agreed. “It turns out that what I just did…I mean, certain properties of your…” Her face flushed slightly.

“Spew?” he suggested teasingly.

“Ew,” she whapped him on the arm. “You can’t come up with a better word for it than that?”

He shrugged, unashamed.

Her eyes narrowed, intent on making him squirm now. He looked entirely too confident at the moment. “Well,” she went on, “it turns out that drinking guys down… There are certain properties involved. Helps in losing weight, for one. So, I was thinking it might be a good idea to start off every day with a Spike-flavored diet drink…”

He groaned at the idea, already squirming beneath her again in eager anticipation. “Bloody brilliant study,” he decided.

“Who says science never did any good?” she agreed, taking pity on those swollen lips of his and bringing them into another deep kiss.

He was grinding slowly against her now, and wetness at the junction of her thighs was becoming unbearable.

“Love you, want you,” Elizabeth murmured against him.

“Ready for slow and sweet?” he whispered against her lips with a grin.

She smiled down at him. “Yeah…” she agreed, pushing back the sweaty curls that clung to his forehead. “I wanna make love with you, baby.”

She got another brilliant, toothy smile in response to that before his expression faded. “’S morning,” he pointed out, trying to shake his mind away from more pleasurable matters.

“So?” she countered, nibbling gently on the silver loop in his ear.

“You’ve got class, luv,” he clarified.

“It was finishing school that did it,” she couldn’t help but pun.

He groaned and banged his head back against the pillow. “You do realize that was punishable by death?” he felt obliged to point out.

“Then, I should definitely get one last shag,” she decided, dropping a quick peck on his lips.

“You’re missin’ art,” he protested one last time.

“And you’re missing English,” she countered.

“I never go to English,” he retorted.

“And on this one special occasion, I can skip art, too,” she informed him.

His eyes softened into the most beautiful blue color she’d ever seen before. The artist in her instantly memorized it, the idea in the back of her head growing stronger as she looked down into the beauty of his eyes.

“You never skip class.” He sounded deeply touched by her gesture.

“Yeah, well, you’re worth it,” she agreed, stroking his cheek with the backs of her knuckles. “Make love with me?” she requested again softly, and this time he didn’t refuse her.

Instinctively, they rolled onto their sides, Elizabeth’s leg coming up to circle his waist and pull them together. It was always incredible like this, neither in control but both equals in their passion, hands free to explore and delight…

Elizabeth’s grip tightened, and Spike easily slipped inside her slick channel. Twin gasps of delight met in a kiss at being truly united once more, and they slowly and lazily began to rock, drawing this out for as long as they could.

“I love you so much,” Elizabeth whispered between soft kisses to his face.

“Love you too, pet,” he agreed, squeezing his eyes shut tight and clutching her to him.

“Spike?” she whispered softly.

“Mmm?”

“Tell me what you love about me,” she requested softly.

“Will you tell me, too?” His voice had that shy, vulnerable tone to it again.

“Of course,” she whispered, dropping a playful kiss to his nose, which earned her a little scowl and a hard, deep thrust of his lips. She gasped in delight and looked right into his eyes. “I love your eyes,” she said softly. “I love how blue they are, how beautiful, how they love me and…I just love your eyes…”

A soft smile graced his lips, and he drew her in for another kiss, leaving his eyes open so that she could look into them.

She sighed contentedly and fell back into the slow, gentle rocking of their hips. “So, what do you love about me?”

His eyes softened with love for her again, and she decided that he was absolutely perfect in that moment. Yup, definitely love those baby blues…

“I love how you look at the world with an artist’s eye,” he whispered softly. “I love…”

And the world closed in around the pair as they shared their love for the rest of the afternoon…

“Can I draw you?”

Spike blinked one happy eye open at the unusual question. “Whasat?” he asked lazily.

“For my art project,” she clarified, looking up from where her head lay on his chest, her fingers tracing archaic patterns of love and devotion into his smooth musculature, “I’d like to include you.”

“You’re not drawin’ any naked pictures of me to show Mum,” he said decisively.

She laughed. “Not those kind of drawings,” she assured him. “Although…if you’d let me, I might enjoy creating a couple of nudes from my private collection…” She licked her lips at the delectable sight of him in all his glory.

He chuckled as well. “So what you want me for, then?” he teased. “If not for my perfect physique…”

She rolled her eyes and swatted him playfully in the shoulder. “Ego much?”

“Much,” he agreed happily before adopting a mock-hurt expression. “An’ I thought you said you were gonna stroke my ego…”

“Again?” she joked, her eyes twinkling in merriment.

“Could never grow tired of you, pet,” he agreed softly, his voice taking on the more cultured tones of his upbringing in his sincerity.

Her expression softened. “Will you let me?” she repeated. “It’s…about something that’s important to me, about who I am now, and I want you to be a part of it.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, his voice husky, “’ll be a part of it.”

“Thank you,” she leaned in close and brushed a quick peck across his lips. “You up for some sketching now?” she asked cheerfully.

“That and ‘m up for somethin’ else, too,” he teased.

She pouted and then brushed him off, reaching over the edge of the bed to riffle around in her bag. “If I have to tie you down first…” she began threateningly.

He purred and preened. “Please do,” he agreed wholeheartedly.

She rolled her eyes and snatched up her sketchbook and colored pencils. “Now stay still,” she ordered.

He let out a resigned sigh. “What’re you gonna be paintin’, then?” he asked curiously.

“It’s a secret,” she informed him with a conspiratorial little wink, her pencil flying across the page as recorded the highlights of his beauty for later reference.

“You’re not even gonna tell your dotin’ boyfriend?” he demanded with a mock pout.

“Later,” she assured him, “when I’m done. I promise you’ll be the first person I show.”

“You’d better,” he harrumphed before following the command of her light whap and turning into an obedient model…

Elizabeth had long ago learned that just when everything seemed perfect, something inevitably came along to screw it up. She suspected Spike had a similar philosophy since they’d both always taken to savoring the moments they had together. So, she really usually was prepared for the worst to happen. Which was why what had happened shocked her so much.

Work had been grueling that night as usual. Her job wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t fantastic, either. She did spend hours on her feet with only rare breaks between customers, and she was always thoroughly exhausted by the end of her shift. It was worth it, though, to come home to a warm Spike-filled bed every night and not have to worry about what her father thought of her life anymore.

Oh, her father was making a general nuisance of himself, to be sure. He’d tried to spew out some bullshit about how she was still a dependent and wasn’t fit to act in the capacity of an adult. Apparently, this had been the sort of shady thing Linda had been waiting for because she’d whipped up a legal backlash so strong, Hank’s neck still hurt from the impact. If nothing else, Elizabeth was eternally grateful to Linda for knowing all of Hank’s sneaky legal tricks.

Furious that his attempts to control her had failed, Hank had pulled his last card on Monday and finally withdrawn her tuition. It had obviously been meant to discourage her. Westing House had thrown a ‘Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead’ party in response. She and Spike had thrown a special, private celebration afterwards.

Surprisingly, after all the worrying she’d done, it was a relief to have her father completely gone from her life. Things were less in a state of limbo now, and she’d actually had to fully take charge. She’d taken her stepmother up on the loan offer and had calculated that, if she worked full-time this summer and lived with Spike so she didn’t have to pay rent, she could have a good half of her debt off by the time school started up again.

Scholarship applications had been mailed off, and she would hear from most before graduation. If not, she’d already checked through the student loan options and had plucked out her favorite choices.

And, despite the effort her work required at the moment, she didn’t hate it. Jenny had turned out to be a nice and fair boss, and Elizabeth had even managed to get her and her daughter free tickets to the new gallery exhibit in the art center. Brownie points with the boss for the art major.

So, all in all, as Elizabeth collapsed into her favorite booth that evening after her shift and accepted the latte Spike had kept warm from her, she felt completely and utterly contented.

He gave her that soft smile of his, and she fell in love all over again. Their hands met in the center of the table, and Elizabeth mouthed a quick “I love you” before taking a sip of her coffee.

And then, right on cue, the disaster both of them were so used to expecting struck.

“Spike,” a nasal voice interrupted the small smiles they were sending each other.

The pair looked up in surprise to see who had interrupted them.

Spike groaned inwardly. “Harmony,” he agreed, his voice sounding somewhat hoarse.

Elizabeth gave him a curious look.

“And you,” Harmony went on, hands on her hips. “Bitsy. Or whatever your name is.”

Elizabeth just blinked slowly. “Harmony?” she repeated the name Spike had used, assuming he was correct even though she didn’t think she’d ever actually picked up the name of the ditsy blond.

“Decided to have a second go, I see,” Harmony commented primly.

Elizabeth looked confused.

Spike was enraged. “How dare you—” he began.

Harmony shot him a condescending look. “Now, now, Spikey, there’s no need to be bitter. I’m mean, you’re cute and all, but you’re not that cute.”

“Bitter?” Elizabeth’s tone was more curious than anything. “You two know each other?”

“Oh, yeah,” Harmony agreed with a toss of her hair. She gave Spike’s hand a condescending little pat. “Such a fun distraction. I can see why you might go for seconds. Especially if you couldn’t find *snicker* anything better…”

One of Elizabeth’s eyebrows rose. She gave Spike a disbelieving look, and his smile assured her that her assessment had been right. “It’s generally a bad idea to talk about things you know absolutely nothing about,” Elizabeth informed Harmony with an irritated tone. “Now, if you’ll just leave us…”

“Hello?” Harmony snarked. “The waitresses aren’t allowed to order actual customers around. Nice outfit, by the way.”

Elizabeth let out a weary sigh. “Look, we’re on a date. Can you just Leave. Us. Alone.”

“A ‘date’?” Harmony repeated incredulously. “Things really have gone downhill for you, haven’t they?” she taunted. “You know, I heard how daddy dumped you and now you have to actually work for a living.” She scoffed. “Guess Spike is the best you can do now.” She gave them the smug smile of one who knows she’s superior – and prettier – than her rival in every way.

“The lady asked you to leave.” Spike’s tone was a dangerous, warning hiss.

“You know, you two fashion victims deserve each other,” Harmony said primly. “I mean, honestly? The eighties are so dead! And the whole vamp thing is just way lame.” She turned her scathing attentions to Elizabeth. “And I can’t believe you would be caught dead in that hideous, common…ugh! I can’t even begin to insult your clothes, they’re so horrible.” She let out a little shudder of disgust.

“You little brat!” Elizabeth began in a fury. “How—”

“Puh-leeze!” Harmony held up one hand before turning to walk away. “Like either of you are even worth my time!”

With a definite sashay of her hips, just to let Spike get a good look at what he’d lost, Harmony left the café, a small smile on her lips.

Ha! Her mind cheered in triumph. I showed THEM! Revenge is so, so sweet…

Elizabeth and Spike blinked in response to the odd encounter.

“What on earth was that?” Elizabeth asked, still not quite sure what was going on.

Spike shrugged. “She made a pass at me once,” he offered. “Guess she’s pissed.”

Elizabeth nodded in slow understanding. “Immature much?” she couldn’t help but offer.

Spike chuckled at that.

And she smiled. And abruptly realized what had happened.

Harmony’s technique hadn’t actually been that idiotic. She’d tried to play on Elizabeth’s insecurities – money, status, Spike’s loyalty, even fashion. All in all, it was exactly the sort of strategy most of the snobby factions of her previous class used.

Yet not even one of them had affected her.

Yeah, money was going to be tight for a while, but it didn’t matter as long as she had enough to stay in school. She had no desire to associate with her father’s ‘kind of people’ at all which was more of a relief than something she felt ashamed about. And Spike’s loyalty…

She cast a soft smile in her love’s direction. In the past, she would have considered herself a bit of a jealous person. But with Spike… There was just no doubt anywhere in her mind that he loved her completely. He was hers, just like she was his.

In the past, she knew she would’ve been looking for this sort of thing, worrying that it could come between them and break them apart. But now…

She had no worries, no concerns. Problems could come, but she knew that if they trusted in each other, they could overcome them. And, deep down, she just knew that they would overcome them all.

With a contented smile, she blew the steam off her latte and took a small sip.

Spike raised one curious eyebrow. “What?” he demanded of her impish little smile.

“Just thinking about how much I love you,” she answered enigmatically.

The smile he gave her could warm her heart for eternity…

“I know you have a paper to write!” Elizabeth exclaimed in irritation, quickly covering up her easel and shooing Spike away.

Only half-heartedly resisting her annoyed shoves, Spike allowed himself to be manhandled over into the main studio. “Just thought ‘d stop by—” he began.

“—And try to sneak a look at my painting,” she countered smugly, arms crossed over her chest in a no-nonsense manner.

He gave her a truly pathetic look, luscious lower lip jutting out in a delicious manner and pretty blue eyes in full ‘kicked puppy’ mode. “Just a peek?” he whimpered.

“Age six much?” she countered, catching his wrist where he’d tried to playfully slip around her and holding him close to prevent a repeat incident.

He sidled up against her body comfortably and welcomed the impromptu embrace. “Thought you couldn’t refuse me anything?” he countered in a husky whisper.

“Unless you’re being an ass,” she amended her promise from last night.

He pouted again. “Accordin’ to you, that’s always,” he pointed out.

Elizabeth gave him a falsely sweet smile. “That’s because you are an ass, honey. Don’t worry, I still love you.”

He let out a little grumble which had to be the most deliciously masculine sound she’d ever heard. There really wasn’t anything she could do in response except step up on her toes and capture his lips in a passionate kiss.

She sighed contentedly at the feel of his fingers in her hair, stroking the golden locks lovingly. Her own hands found the soft white hairs at the base of his neck and began twisting them absentmindedly about her fingers.

He gave her that sexy little growl again, and she squealed against his lips as he caught her waist and ground her up against his body. The very real evidence of his desire pressed into her through both their jeans, and a naughty little tingle shot up and down her spine.

She knew finals were next week, and she had an insane amount of work to do, and this really wasn’t the appropriate place anyway, but…god, he felt so good!

He, apparently, had the same idea because she quickly found herself backed up against one of the work tables, her hips lifted up so that she was sitting atop it. Instinctively, her legs wrapped around his waist, allowing them to grind together in perfect alignment.

Soft, whispering moans escaped the junction of their lips as their tongues thrusted and parried, delighting in their arcane dance. Her breasts were flattened against the hard muscles of his chest, and her pebbled nipples rubbed erotically over the soft cotton of her blouse.

“Mmm…”

Neither was sure exactly who was making those wonderful noises – or whether it was the both of them – but it didn’t really matter. All that mattered right now was the feel of the other and knowledge that…

“Ahem!”

It took a while for the cough to break through the thick fog that surrounded them, but eventually they both started in surprise to see who had interrupted them.

“I believe I’ve been officially scarred for life now,” Joyce commented wryly.

Elizabeth and Spike’s faces both instantly flushed a deep red.

“I always thought I did a rather good job of creating the illusion that I’ve never had sex,” Joyce continued with an evil grin. “You might offer me the same courtesy, William…”

Spike’s face was a deep maroon by now, and he carefully stepped from between Elizabeth’s thighs, shoving his hands deep into his duster pockets as he did so and thus covering up the rather conspicuous bulge at the front of his jeans.

“Mum,” he murmured in the most mortified voice imaginable.

Elizabeth quickly slipped off the desk and began straightening her hair and clothes. “Umm…hi,” she agreed nervously.

An amused smile was still flickering across Joyce’s lips. “So, I take it the two of you worked everything out, then?” she asked curiously. “Funny that I gave up my house for some sort of reconciliation and then never heard the outcome…”

“We didn’t tell you?” Elizabeth let out an apologetic little squeal. “Well, er…uh, yeah. All good.” She stepped discretely in front of Spike who was being far too obvious about covering up his, er, condition.

Joyce was barely holding in her laughter now at the flustered expressions on the two young people’s faces. “I gathered,” she agreed, unlocking one of the cabinets and pulling out a pastel set.

“So, er, yeah.” Spike’s face was still flaming bright red, and he was concentrating very studiously on a spot on the floor right next to Elizabeth’s shoes. “Everythin’s right as rain, an’ all…”

Joyce gave her son a fond smile. Hey, she may have been traumatized by seeing him seducing his girlfriend, but she was still very happy for him and Elizabeth. She’d just gotten this feeling over Christmas break when the pair had been living with them. Elizabeth had fit so perfectly that Joyce had seriously pondered whether this would be The One for her William. Actually, she secretly hoped so since she had instinctively liked Elizabeth as opposed to, say, that little witch Dru. She was well aware that it was her son’s choice to make, though…

“Are you sticking around this summer, then?” Joyce asked Elizabeth conversationally.

“Definitely,” Elizabeth agreed. “I’ve got to work, and it’s not like I’m going to go back to California after…” she trailed off.

Joyce nodded sympathetically. She’d mostly heard about Elizabeth’s dealings with her father through Rupert, who had in turn heard them through William. She’d discovered that despite her reassurances, Elizabeth had been quite a bit more withdrawn from her during the break-up.

“Yeah, been meanin’ to ask,” Spike mumbled, scratching the back of his head and obviously still mortified about being caught by his mother, of all people.

Joyce couldn’t help but tease him just a little. “Stand up straight and stop mumbling!” she barked out in The Dreaded Mom Voice.

Instinctively, Spike jolted to obey her commands…and then realized what she’d done and gave her an annoyed scowl before slumping with renewed enthusiasm.

Joyce chuckled slightly. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Anyway, you were saying?”

Spike let out a sigh of resignation. He wasn’t quite sure whether he was blessed or cursed to have so many bossy, infuriating, wonderful women in his life. His arms slipped unconsciously around the waist of his personal favorite. OK, so maybe he was sure…

“Was wonderin’ if we could shack up at the house this summer,” he provided. “Would do our best not to be a bother. ‘S just that it would save ‘Lizabeth here some worries ‘bout rent on top of everythin’ else…”

“Of course, you and Elizabeth can say,” Joyce agreed with a smile. “Your father and I will be in England in July, but I’m sure the two of you can hold the fort. In fact, it would actually save me the effort of finding a house-sitter.” She gave Elizabeth a conspiratorial wink. “Plus, I’m sure you two could use the alone time…”

Spike blushed again, but it didn’t stop the slow stroking motion of his thumb against Elizabeth’s navel. Talking about this sort of thing with his mom was any young man’s nightmare, true, but he was never ashamed to show his affection for the woman he loved.

“Thanks, Mum,” he grumbled in a way that tried to disguise how grateful he really was for her agreement.

“Yes, thank you so much, Joyce,” Elizabeth agreed, even though she was sure the older woman had caught the hidden emotions in Spike’s voice. “We really appreciate it.”

“Anything I can do to help the younger generation,” Joyce agreed before finally taking pity on William and turning the subject to more neutral matters. “You ready for the final project presentations next Friday?” she asked Elizabeth casually.

Elizabeth grimaced. “Scrambling a bit, actually,” she admitted. “Still have a few more layers, and then there’s the detailing…”

“You went with oils?” Joyce was downright curious now. Her prized pupil had been very secretive about what exactly her final project was.

Elizabeth shrugged. “What can I say? You can just get such amazing realism and subtlety from them…”

Joyce nodded. “Always a favorite of mine, too. Although waiting for your canvas to dry can be bugger-all annoying.”

Elizabeth smiled at the Spikism. Or was it a Gilesism? In any case, she’d caught herself bandying about bizarre British slang in a similar fashion. “Especially when I have a due-date,” she agreed. “But it looks like I’ll make it right on time.”

“I’ll look forward to seeing it,” Joyce agreed. “How about you, William? Finals going well?”

Elizabeth gave her boyfriend the Evil Glare Of Death in advance.

He gave her a sheepish shrug in response. “Had two early final papers due,” he explained to his mother. “So, only two tests during finals week…one of which I don’t even hafta study for…”

Elizabeth was contemplating the pros and cons of murdering him at the moment. Her exam schedule involved two tests back-to-back on Monday. Unfortunately, the benefits of having a Spike-shaped bed warmer outweighed her desire to strangle him when he started gloating…for the moment.

“Little devil,” Joyce shook her head in disbelief at her son’s uncanny luck during final’s week.

Spike preened slightly at the epithet, and he looked so gorgeous right then that Elizabeth couldn’t help but lean in and brush a kiss across his lips, maternal presence be damned.

Spike kind of got this goofy half-ecstatic, half-embarrassed look on his face, and she sighed against him.

Joyce, still desperately clinging to the illusion that her baby still didn’t even know the meaning of the word ‘sex’, took the opportunity to say her good-byes.

“All alone now,” Spike whispered into her ear. His raging hard-on hadn’t diminished in the slightest during the conversation. It rarely did.

Elizabeth sighed regretfully. “Can’t,” she insisted, sounding just as disappointed as he looked. “I’ve got way too much work to do…”

He understood, of course, but that didn’t make his jeans any looser around the crotch. “Right,” he agreed. “Should let you get back… Important final project and all that…”

She bit her lip and looked back at her easel, torn. “How about this,” she offered. “We go back home for a quickie, and then you have to quiz me on the slides for my art final. And no distractions.”

A little light shone within the blue depths of his eyes. “Have I ever mentioned you’re the most perfect woman, ever?” he whispered agreed her ear lovingly.

“Don’t say,” she agreed with a wink, “show…”

“Don’t go,” Spike whimpered raggedly as Elizabeth’s naked form slipped from his embrace. His head flopped back onto the pillows ineffectually.

“Have to,” she apologized, leaning over to give her lover a quick kiss but pulling back before he could lure her back in for another round of lovemaking. “I need to study calc with Jonathan tonight and, for obvious reasons, I need to take a shower first.”

Spike nodded his acceptance. Things had been quite hectic lately with Elizabeth still working part-time and studying for finals as well. Sunday, in particular, had been a bitch what with her working and having the two finals the next day. She’d still made time all the way through to give them an hour or so in bed together, here and there. Little breaks of solace and the reaffirmation of their love amidst the busy day-to-day hubbub of their lives. Spike was still on high for this most recent consummation…

“If you got off that sexy butt of yours and took a shower, too, you could join in on the study party in Jonathan’s room,” Elizabeth provided, slipping into her robe and grabbing two clean towels from the closet.

“And watch you study?” he teased. “Joy.”

“You could play video games with Andrew,” she countered. “He’s done, too. And very sly about the gloating…” She gave him a pointed look that indicated that he hadn’t been subtle in any way, shape, or form.

“Gloating?” he said with mock-innocence. “You mean there are some people who aren’t just laying back and relaxin’ all through finals week?”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “Die.”

“Come over here an’ try and kill me, then,” he countered with a sexy little wiggle of his hips.

There was absolutely no doubt in Elizabeth’s mind what would occur if she were to return to that bed. “Sorry, lover. The shower beckons.”

He groaned and then wearily got up. “All right, ‘m coming with you…”

Elizabeth flashed him a broad smile. “I win!” she announced.

He grumbled something about “bloody women” under his breath as he searched for his own robe, tying the black sash around his waist as he approached her. “Hop to it, then,” he teased. “Studying awaits…at least one of us.”

“Asshole,” she accused with an affectionate kiss.

“Bitch,” he agreed, giving her a little nuzzle before they headed off to the bathroom.

Their courtesy in not showering together was foiled by their discourtesy in taking up both of the shower stalls. After several irritated comments by Anya that they should just have taken one stall, providing one shower available and adding the efficiency that they could have sex while showering, they beat a hasty retreat back to their room.

Spike managed to restrain himself, despite the sight of a naked, wet Elizabeth, and Elizabeth fought off the urge to jump the sexy, naked, wet Spike. Somehow, they made it to Jonathan’s room, and actual studying occurred. Elizabeth considered it to be some form of a miracle.

She and Jonathan quizzed each other on formulas – even though Elizabeth could barely read most of the ones Jonathan had to memorize – and all the while Spike and Andrew shot at each other in video game form in the background.

She was dimly aware that Andrew’s nudges and prods were inspired by a bit more than friendly camaraderie, but she wasn’t concerned. After all, she’d proven her boyfriend’s heterosexuality twice today alone. And, given that Andrew spent as much time in Westing House as he did, he had to be woefully aware of the fact that Spike was unavailable, too. It didn’t stop a bit of harmless flirting, though.

As Elizabeth sat back in Jonathan’s desk chair and tried to sort the x’s, y’s, and d’s out in her mind properly, her mind remained half on the man she loved. It was nice living like this, she decided. It took a bit of an effort to fit everything together, and she could almost understand why she had once thought that it would be best to leave him out of her complicated life. But the benefits of having him at her side far exceeded any work and sacrifice either of them had to make…

“Your ass is mine!” Andrew shouted in triumph as his quadruple-attack drained most of Spike’s remaining health.

With one last smile at Spike’s attempts to bitch-slap Andrew back to level four, Elizabeth returned full out to her studying. Now was for acing her test. Tomorrow… Well, tomorrow she quite hoped to blow his mind…

“Calc aced?” Spike asked a weary Elizabeth as she stepped out of the exam room.

She let out a sigh. “Couldn’t quite get an answer on number four,” she admitted, “but I wrote down a whole bunch of stuff, so I’ll hopefully get a lot of partial credit.”

“No one ever gets high scores on math finals, anyway,” he assured her. “They’re designed so that even the TAs can’t finish in time.”

She gave him a small smile, which widened when she saw what he was holding. “For me?” she asked with a flutter of her eyelashes.

“I get a bite, at least,” he countered, handing over the pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie and a small spoon.

She gave him a gleeful smile and a quick hug. “Women the world over are envious that my boyfriend brings me chocolate ice-cream,” she informed him, settling down on one of the couches in the lobby of the math building and pulling him down beside her.

“Well, that and he’s a demon in the sack,” Spike countered with a rakish grin before leaning in on the recently-opened container. It was frightening just how fast half of the ice-cream had vanished.

Dutifully, Elizabeth fed him a spoonful, her mouth watering for more than chocolate at the way his tongue flicked sensuously over the spoon, savoring every last drop.

“Wanna go to bed?” he asked with a smirk, his tongue making one final pass over the spoon.

Elizabeth nodded numbly and then shook her head. “I mean, soon,” she clarified, ingesting more chocolate in the hopes that it would clear her head. Plus, the thought of eating off of that spoon after watching Spike… Yummy.

He pouted. “Art project still not done?” he sighed, flopping back onto the couch.

“Nope,” she assured him. “Project completely done. Just have to show it to someone special before I present it in class on Friday.”

A smile curved at the edges of his lips. “ ‘Someone special’?” he repeated.

She shook her head at him. “Of course it’s you, dumbass.” She whapped him on the thigh gently.

“Mmm,” he murmured into her hair, “I get to see, then?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, taking a deep, nervous breath, “you get to see.”

A scarred eyebrow rose at the slight nervous fidget after she’d finished her ice-cream. “Nervous, luv?” he asked softly, slipping a comforting arm around her waist.

“A little,” she admitted. “About what you’ll think, I mean…”

“You know I love all your work,” he assured her. “How could I not? It comes from you, luv.”

“God, you’re so sweet,” she informed him, dropping a kiss on the tip of his nose. “My cuddly kitty-cat.”

He groaned. “Thought ‘d escaped the ‘kitty-cat’ thing…” he mock-complained.

“Never,” she assured him before taking his hands and getting up. “C’mon,” she said with a wide smile, “I wanna show you.”

“Someone sure perks right up with liberal doses of chocolate,” he teased.

Elizabeth tossed the now-empty container into the garbage. “C’mon, baby,” she prodded him again.

“No need to ask me twice,” he agreed.

“I already did,” she countered in triumphant victory.

He stuck out his tongue in response, and she giggled and let him chase her all the way to the art building…

“It’s called ‘Blue Horizons’,” Elizabeth commented, sitting back in the armchair of the critique room and looking at the painting that was displayed before the class.

Joyce gave Elizabeth an impressed nod. This piece really did appear to be the culmination of the year’s work, a unique blending to the surreal and real, symbolic and literal. “What emotions does this painting convey to you?” she asked the class at large.

“Well, I, like, see the horizon,” one of the jocks in the back of the room provided. “And it’s all blue ‘cause it’s, y’know, the ocean…”

Elizabeth fought not to roll her eyes.

Joyce managed a patient smile. “Yes, that does explain the title,” she agreed, “but what emotions do you associate it with?”

“Peace,” a shy girl in the corner spoke up.

“Can you elaborate?” Joyce pressed her.

She blushed but continued in a soft voice nonetheless. “Well, the water’s calm and since it’s inside the eye and all… I just thought it was like internal peace.”

“Yes, the blending of images does tend to draw parallels between the internal mindset at the ocean scene,” Joyce agreed. “It’s very well done, by the way,” she informed Elizabeth. “At first it almost looks just like a picture of an eye until you see that the blue actually forms and ocean and sky within.”

“And the glare in the pupil looks kind of like the setting sun,” quiet girl spoke up again. “Or maybe it’s rising. I can’t tell.”

“Any answers?” Joyce asked Elizabeth.

“It’s supposed to be both,” Elizabeth responded.

“So, does that mean that you’re, like, the ocean?” Dumb Jock was giving unsolicited opinions once more.

“It’s not her eye,” Quiet said, obviously mentally cringing at Dumb Jock’s assessments.

“Yes,” Joyce agreed. “What do you make of that?”

“It’s her boyfriend.” That was Jock #2, more silent but slightly more intelligent than Dumb Jock. “You can tell because of the eyebrow scar.”

Joyce had, of course, identified it immediately. Every mother knew her son’s eyes. “So what does that tell you?” she pressed.

“Dunno.” Jock #2 was obviously worried about being typecast as some kind of ‘artsy type’.

“It’s about looking into other people,” Science Geek finally spoke up.

“Oh?” Joyce inquired.

“Well, you’re looking at someone else. Even the artist is,” he clarified. “And in their eye is this ocean that you don’t see at first.”

“So what does the water mean?” Joyce asked the class.

“It’s, like, big,” Dumb Jock was back. “’Cause it’s the ocean and all. And deep. Like, emotionally deep.”

Elizabeth winced inwardly. There was one in every class.

Quiet spoke up again, repaying Elizabeth for the intelligent comments she’d received on her own painting. “It’s hard to define,” she began, biting her lip hesitantly.

Joyce gestured for her to continue.

“Well, the expression is… It’s very intense, but it doesn’t look particularly happy or sad or anything. It can be interpreted in a lot of ways. And I think the ocean inside is kinda the same thing. I look at it and I think of peace, and, um…” she gestured to Dumb Jock, “he sees different stuff. I think it’s all about just looking carefully.”

“I agree,” Joyce nodded. “I had a variety of emotional responses as well. I thought the blue in the water might be sad at first, and then I saw the little glints of light and thought it looked happy. Then, you mentioned the ‘at peace’ idea, and I could see that, too. Maybe more of a…potentiality of emotion, than any emotion in particular.”

“Which totally works with the whole ‘horizon’ thing,” Jock #2 spoke up. “’Cause horizons are like looking ahead at what’s to come, and this is the stage right before then. Sort of like college.”

Dumb Jock gave him a disbelieving look that let Jock #2 know that his sexuality was being seriously questioned.

“And it’s, like, whoa!” Jock #2 quickly made the dumbest comment he could think of to save his reputation.

Joyce couldn’t help but shake her head at the politics of some teens. “I like that,” she commented, “potentiality looking forward to the future… Any other comments?”

A rich, deep silence followed her question.

“So, Elizabeth,” she finally gave the painting’s creator a chance to speak, “any comments?”

“You’ve touched upon all the major points,” she agreed.

Joyce gave her a small smile. “Moving on then… Jason?”

Dumb Jock got up at tacked a sketchy self-portrait of himself up onto the wall. “I call it ‘Me’,” he said in the same bored drawl he said everything in.

Elizabeth and Quiet Girl both bit their tongues and tried desperately to come up with something remotely interesting to say…

“How’d the masterpiece go over?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Spike hadn’t even waited for the class to fully clear out before he’d barged his way in. She watched him slump back into the comfy couch and shook her head. “You’re hopeless, you know that, right?”

“Completely,” he agreed cheerily enough. He watched Quiet Girl practically flee from the room now that she wasn’t actually required to talk anymore, and Dumb Jock was bothering Jock #2 about something.

“No, get it?” Dumb Jock’s voice could just barely be heard in the hallway. “Long and deep? It’s totally about how she wants to screw him…”

Spike cast Elizabeth an amused look. “That true, luv?” he teased. “’Cause all you ever had to do was ask…”

She threw a couch pillow at him. “The insights of the football team…” She rolled her eyes.

“You so wanna screw me,” he countered, obviously highly entertained by the idea.

She scowled at him. “The desire’s fading rapidly,” she threatened lightly.

“All right, ‘ll shut up,” he sighed. “So, how’d it go?”

“Well,” Elizabeth agreed. “Really well. I got some remotely intelligent comments out of people who usually have no clue what they’re talking about.”

“See?” he said with a cocky grin. “Told you they’d love it.”

“Yeah, ‘cause what with me being the artist and all I’d never have thought about that before,” she retorted.

He gave her a delighted smile and abruptly caught her about the waist, yanking her down into his lap. She let out a little squeal before sidling against him.

“Everythin’ about you is so beautiful, luv,” he informed her in a husky whisper. “There’s no way this could be any different…”

She offered him a small smile and then leaned in to taste his lips once more. She didn’t think she could ever grow tired to the taste of him or the heady scent. She pulled him in closer and…

“Ahem.”

They pulled apart.

“Sorry, Mum.”

“Sorry, Joyce.”

Around chapter 15, I got an e-mail asking why this story was titled 'Blue Horizons'. Well, you've finally got your answer 30 chapters later. ~_^ Nearing the end now, so all feedback's appreciated...

Blue Horizons
Chapter Forty-Eight

“Done!” Willow squealed in delight as she sat down at the lunch table. “Completely and utterly done! I never, ever have to write another lab report! Or take another final!”

“Until next year in grad school,” Oz pointed out with his usual droll tone.

Willow refused to let this curtail her enthusiasm in the slightest. “I get to sleep! Actual, real sleep! Wow, I’m not even sure I remember what it’s like…”

“Yeah, sleep,” Spike agreed with a nod. “’S been what ‘ve been doing all week. It’s very nice.”

Anya elbowed him pointedly in the ribs.

“Oi!” he complained, looking to Elizabeth for support.

Elizabeth elbowed him in the ribs as well. “This is one of those situations where you’ve exceeded the bounds of annoyingness to the point where other people are allowed to whap you, too,” she informed him with a falsely sweet smile.

He proceeded to sulk with all the maturity of a six-year-old and refused to relent until her hand squeezed his thigh affectionately under the table. His pout softened then, and he leaned back in his chair, tilted slightly towards her so that their shoulders were just brushing.

She smiled at his abrupt mood changes. He was always unpredictable, her love. It made him all the more fascinating to her…

“So, everyone’s done then, right?” Willow asked of the assembled house.

“Well, technically I took an incomplete in one class…” Xander began.

“You’re writing that paper this summer,” Anya informed him in a no-nonsense manner.

Xander groaned. “Work over the summer?” he managed in a petulant whine.

“Get used to it,” Devon advised. “Especially if you take incompletes.”

Xander was pouting now, too, and swirling the corn around on his plate in a disappointed manner.

“But we’re not too busy freaking out about some test or other to do official house business?” Willow inquired, turning the conversation back on track.

“By all means, Fearless Leader,” Xander joked.

Willow grinned and turned to the papers in front of her. “We have to submit room assignments for next year by Tuesday, and-”

Groans across the table.

Willow cast annoyed looks at Cordy and Spike - the two most egregious offenders - and returned to her task. “It shouldn’t take that long,” she insisted with what she knew was foolish optimism.

Elizabeth, Xander, and Jonathan all cast each other confused looks.

“Room assignments always turn into a logistical nightmare,” Anya provided helpfully.

“Especially when we’ve got people being pulled into the house,” Devon added, gesturing to Oz and Andrew.

“Has anyone heard from Faith?” Elizabeth asked. “’Cause if she’s coming back…”

Willow frowned. “She’s saying winter quarter now. You all can worry about that when - or if - it comes up.”

“So, uh, what’re we doing?” Jonathan asked curiously, watching Willow sort meticulously through the pile of papers in front of her.

Willow sighed. “OK, so we’ve got two pull-ins. We’ll need to stick them in the doubles initially, which means…” She looked to Cordelia.

The brunette gave her a weary nod. “What do you want me to do?” she agreed.

“Well, first,” Willow began, biting the end of her pencil. “Who wants to live where next year? Everyone give me your first choice, and then we’ll work about fixing things right.”

“Oz and I are good with the double again,” Devon provided. “Unless someone else wants it…”

“Good,” Willow nodded. “That part should be easy. What about you two?” she turned to Jonathan and Andrew.

“Singles would be better,” Jonathan said nervously.

Andrew nodded vigorously. “Definitely,” he agreed.

Willow continued to jot down notes. “Spike? Anya?”

“Prefer to keep the same room,” Spike shrugged.

“And Cordy and I were talking about taking the second double together,” Anya added.

Willow’s scribbling turned more frantic. “OK, so that’s the upper classmen. Xander? Elizabeth?”

Xander shrugged. “As long as I’m in the house…”

“I’ll probably end up just living in Spike’s room again, anyway,” Elizabeth concurred.

Willow nodded. “OK, Cordy’s got official first pick, so initially she’ll have to choose… One of the singles. Probably a freshman one.”

All the freshmen blinked. “I thought she wanted the double,” Xander ventured, somewhat confused.

“We need the second double to pull Andrew in,” Anya provided. “Then, after the college officially assigns him to the house, Cordy and I will bump the two of them from the double.”

“Which means the two of you both need to pick back-up singles…” Willow frowned at her chart.

Two shrugs accompanied this request. “Does it really matter?” Jonathan asked.

Willow sighed. “Indifference - the bane of housing assignments…” She pondered the chart. “We want Cordy and Anya to pick singles that no one else is going to take. Which leaves out Spike’s room, and… Xander, where did you want to stay again?”

Xander sighed. “Can I have Anya’s current room?” he finally decided. “It’s probably the largest single left…”

“Right.” Willow was scribbling furiously again. “Which means…” A dramatic pause. “Cordy, I’m assigning you to the room you’ve got now.”

“All that effort just to end up in the same place,” Cordelia teased lightly.

Willow gave her a grimacing smile of agreement. “Next pick is Devon’s…”

“Double. Pulling in Oz,” he reminded her.

“Right,” Willow agreed, penning them in. “Anya’s next, so I’m putting her…in Jonathan’s current room…”

Anya gave her a disinterested shrug.

“Spike goes in his old room, and we’re down to the freshmen… Xander in Anya’s room. Elizabeth in… Where do you want?”

“Xander’s?” Elizabeth ventured uncertainly.

“Cut down on the neighbors that hafta put up with our racket,” Spike commented with a wry grin.

Elizabeth cast him an annoyed look…even if she had taken that into consideration…

“So, Jonathan picks my current room and pulls in Andrew, and then we’re all set until Cordy and Anya bump them out,” Willow concluded with a flourish. “So, Jonathan and Andrew have to pick back-ups…”

“Just give me my room again,” Jonathan shrugged.

“Andrew?” Willow inquired. “We’ve got Cordy’s and Faith’s old rooms left…”

“Cordy’s,” Andrew insisted quickly, blushing and intentionally looking nowhere near Elizabeth and Spike.

“So, the sole new freshman next year gets stuck with us as next-door neighbors,” Spike couldn’t help but tease wryly.

“Yeah, there’s not a lot of openings for new residents, are there?” Willow frowned slightly. “That settles it. You’re all going to have to be a lot more aggravating next year, so that more people want to move out,” she teased.

“Either that, or everyone has to go abroad at inopportune times,” Anya agreed.

Cordelia nodded slowly. “Glad I got it out of the way this year when I could still get back in the house.”

“Very wise of you,” Spike agreed with a quirk of his lips. “What would we ever ‘ve done without you draggin’ us onto sets to paint scenery?”

“Hey!” Xander and Cordelia protested in unison.

“Don’t forget corrupting my boyfriend,” Anya provided.

Cordelia and Xander both took up identical defensive positions.

Willow sniffed slightly before focusing intently on the last of her work once more. “W-We need to choose the RA for next year, too…” she added.

“Juniors?” Spike raised an eyebrow at the three members of the (hopefully) soon-to-be-graduating class.

“Not quite sure I’m graduating,” Oz provided.

“Devon or Cordy, then,” Anya concluded.

“Do either of you have a preference?” Willow inquired.

Devon and Cordelia exchanged a look. “Cordy,” “me,” they said in almost perfect unison.

Several chuckles followed the decision.

“What?” Devon said defensively. “Picking a major doesn’t mean I have to be all…responsible or anything…”

“Did you tell that to the Times?” Oz teased lightly.

Devon shrugged. “I can last for sufficient amounts of time without being stoned, you know. I mean, this semester…”

“Yeah, ‘cause Spike and I never had to drag you back home,” Xander retorted with a grin.

Devon gave him a sheepish look.

“OK, so it’s looking like Cordy right now,” Willow summarized. “Any objections?”

Deep, rich silence.

“OK, we’re doing the vote, then,” Willow concluded. “Everyone cover their eyes…”

A few confused looks from the freshmen, but everyone complied with the anonymous vote.

“Everyone who wants Cordy as RA next year, raise your hand,” Willow continued. A pause. “And opposed?” Another pause. “OK, you can all open your eyes now. Cordy’s the RA by unanimous vote.”

“Better watch it, Rosenberg, or I’ll steal your record as best RA,” Cordelia teased.

Willow grinned at her. “You still have to orchestrate housing for the next year, so don’t get cocky yet.”

“Yeah, ‘m impressed,” Spike agreed. “This hasn’t turned into the two hour fiasco of last year.”

“This is why you don’t have stoners for RAs,” Devon agreed.

“Well, then,” Willow scanned over the documents in front of her, “I think that’s it. I just need to hand these forms in, and that’ll be my last official act as RA…”

“I can’t believe this year’s over already,” Xander shook his head. “It went way too fast…”

“Wait until you’re a senior and you realize that all four years have gone by that fast,” Willow countered.

“We should probably do something tonight,” Anya commented, her face scrunched up in disgust as she stared down at the tray in front of her. “You know, as a house. We could go out and get real food, for instance.”

“And then I wouldn’t have to pretend to eat the mac and cheese,” Cordelia saw through the sentimental aspects of Anya’s plan and got straight down to the important parts.

“Give Red a send-off while we’re at it,” Spike commented, keeping the corner of his eye on their graduating senior who didn’t seem quite as composed about her leaving as she was pretending to be.

“Yeah, that’ll be fun,” Willow agreed with a bright smile. “We should definitely get together for dinner before people start flying home.”

“I’m leaving tomorrow night,” Jonathan provided.

“Tonight, then,” Anya nodded. “Any votes on where to go?”

“Anywhere but more pizza,” Elizabeth insisted vehemently.

“Well, that eliminates half the restaurants in town,” Xander joked. “So, we’re left with Italian or Chinese. Wills, it’s your last meal, so you pick.”

Willow chuckled slightly at the ‘last meal’ comment. “I’m for Chinese,” she decided.

“Sounds great,” Spike commented, still inconspicuously studying the redhead. “Lounge at seven, then?”

Murmurs of ascent followed as everyone half-heartedly picked at their food.

Elizabeth had picked up the odd note in Spike’s voice and noticed for the first time that he was observing Willow. She gave him a questioning little look, but he shrugged it off for the moment. However, Elizabeth’s attention turned in the direction of her roommate now as well, and she too spotted the underlying sadness in her friend’s demeanor. A quick look of understanding with Spike, and she quickly chased off after Willow as soon as the latter left the dining table…

* * *

“Gah!” Willow said in shocked surprise when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“Packing’s that engrossing, huh?” Elizabeth teased lightly, sitting on the edge of her bed.

Willow managed a small smile and threw several more candles into the open suitcase. “Nasty thing about this year is that I can’t just put everything in storage. I actually have to lug all my textbooks with me.”

“You could always sell some,” Elizabeth suggested, her nose scrunched up at the rather heaping book piles that were scattered across the room. She was suddenly very grateful that she was just able to leave boxes in her room over the summer.

“You never know what reference you might need to look up, though,” Willow countered.

Elizabeth lifted up one volume. “Somehow, I doubt bio majors have much use of Plato’s Republic,” she countered.

Willow took it from her. “What kind of nerd would I be if I didn’t have at least one copy of Plato on my bookshelf?” she teased, dropping the tome into the bottom of one of the many boxes that littered the room. She paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. “I don’t suppose we can convince that well-muscled boyfriend of yours to help me lug all this stuff downstairs?” she asked with a little grin.

“Consider it done,” Elizabeth agreed. “Oh, and Anya’s already offered Xander as your second pack mule.”

Willow shook her head and laughed. “And I’ve already tricked Devon and Oz into helping…”

Elizabeth chuckled. “Now all we have to do is convince them to do all that heavy lifting shirtless, and we’re set.”

“I don’t suppose we could get some naked girls involved, too?” Willow teased.

“Maybe,” Elizabeth bit her lip in a mock-thoughtful manner, “but only because you’re graduating.”

“Lucky me,” Willow agreed with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Elizabeth sighed. “Will?” she began.

“Yeah?” Willow was intentionally not looking at her.

“We’re all going to miss you, y’know?” Elizabeth assured her.

Willow didn’t answer for a minute, too busy trying to disentangle two sweaters. “Yeah, I’ll miss you guys, too,” she finally agreed.

“You’ll have to e-mail us,” Elizabeth insisted. “And come visit. Often.”

“I will,” Willow promised. “I mean, I have to make sure open war doesn’t break out in my absence, now don’t I?”

Elizabeth managed a wry chuckle. “We’ll make Cordy’s life hell for you,” she teased.

The smile reached Willow’s eyes this time, but so did the tears. “Th-Thanks,” she sniffed slightly.

Elizabeth felt her own eyes tearing as well. “You were a great roommate,” she insisted, “even though we, y’know…”

“…didn’t really live together for most of the year?” Willow suggested with a grin.

Elizabeth’s face flushed slightly. “Yeah, sorry about that,” she agreed sheepishly.

“It gave me and Tara a lot of alone time,” Willow assured her. “Besides, I don’t begrudge you or Spike your happiness.”

Elizabeth gave her a soft smile. “I’m glad you and Tara got some time,” she agreed.

Willow let out a wistful sigh. “Yeah…” she agreed. She returned to packing in silence for a while. “You know, I feel like there’s still a lot I missed here,” she finally spoke up, startling Elizabeth with her sudden words.

“Yeah?” Elizabeth pressed curiously.

“Well, I mean, it would have been nice if Tara and I had been able to work something out,” she clarified.

“You still love her?” Elizabeth inquired softly.

Willow nodded. “And I get that our lives are going in very different directions right now, but… It would’ve been nice, you know? Having something comforting to fall back on…”

“You’ll make new friends in no time,” Elizabeth insisted before wincing. “Which was meant to sound a lot less dismissive than it actually was,” she hastily amended.

Willow grinned. “You’ve been hanging around Spike too much,” she teased.

“What?” Elizabeth gave her an offended look.

“You’ve both developed this mutual ‘foot constantly in the mouth while being sensitive at the same time’ thing,” Willow explained. “It’s kind of hilarious.”

Elizabeth huffed slightly. “Spike’s the one who constantly sticks his foot in his mouth,” she insisted stubbornly, even though she really didn’t believe that was entirely the case.

Willow laughed. “I’m really going to miss you guys,” she repeated, studying the folded jacket before her with a distant sort of nostalgia.

“It’ll be fun,” Elizabeth insisted. “New place, new people, plenty of new hot girls…”

Willow chuckled at that. “Yeah,” she agreed, even though she still didn’t seem quite convinced. “I guess I’m sort of just not quite ready to leave this place yet.”

“So you say now,” Elizabeth countered with a wry grin. “But by your first week, I’m sure you’ll realize what a lot of annoying, juvenile delinquents we all are.”

Willow laughed and then gave Elizabeth a suspicious look. “You know, just because you’re cheering me up doesn’t mean you’re exempt from helping me pack,” she informed her roommate.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened in fear. “I have to…er…” she began lamely.

“Here,” Willow plopped a pile of books into her arms. “You can fit those into the box by the closet.”

Elizabeth let out a resigned sigh. “I’m sure there’s some rule against the RA using freshmen as slave labor,” she teased lightly.

“Undoubtedly,” Willow agreed cheerfully, “but it won’t help you now.”

Elizabeth staggered over to the box with the pile of books that well passed her chin.

“Besides,” Willow countered, “before you know it, it’ll be you hijacking your neighbors to move out.”

“What goes around, comes around?” Elizabeth summarized with an ‘oof’ as she unceremoniously dropped the stack of books into the cardboard box and began arranging them.

“You’d be surprised how fast,” Willow agreed…

* * *

That evening, Willow had seemed a bit more cheerful about the prospect of saying her good-byes. Of course, that probably was largely because they had convinced Tara to come to dinner with them as well. The celebration had turned into something of a good-bye for the both of them since Tara in her own way had also helped guide Westing House through the year.

Elizabeth had found herself seated between Willow and Xander at the conglomeration of tables that had been pushed together to accommodate the large group. This had left Spike and Anya unsupervised at the far side of the table, and naturally war had broken out.

Amidst shouts of “don’t call me Anyanka!” and the clashing of chopsticks, Elizabeth had managed to prod Tara about how she’d been doing for the past month or so. Like Willow, Tara seemed a bit nostalgic about leaving the college, but both had been excited about the programs they would be entering the following year. The only real moment of sadness had been when Tara had given Willow a quick good-bye hug before turning off into the direction of her own dorm.

“We kept promising to keep in touch,” Willow had commented to Elizabeth as they’d walked through the warm June night back to Westing Hall, “but it seems kind of hopeless, you know?”

Elizabeth had given her a sympathetic nod.

“I mean, we’ve both kinda got this wish that eventually we’ll get together again, but…” Willow sighed. “It doesn’t really seem all that likely.”

“People move on, move apart,” Elizabeth agreed.

“It’s kind of frightening that all this stuff that seems to mean so much could eventually turn out to be nothing,” Willow shuddered slightly despite the heat. “It sort of makes everything I feel right now seem false.”

“It’s real right now,” Elizabeth pointed out. “Just because things change doesn’t make the past any less real.”

Willow smiled. “Where’d you get so smart?” she teased.

“College?” Elizabeth joked before frowning. “No, wait…that doesn’t seem right.”

She and Willow had burst out laughing in response and had received odd looks from Jonathan, Andrew, and Spike who had been walking ahead of them in response.

“Women,” Spike shook his head.

“There’s a reason why I don’t bother with ‘em,” Andrew agreed.

It had taken Elizabeth half the evening to get revenge on Spike for that little comment, but once she’d finally cornered him in their room after the rest of the house had gone to bed, there was no escape.

“Asshole,” she informed him matter-of-factly as she slid into bed.

He groaned and turned over to face her. “What’d I do now?” he demanded.

“Just being your usual assholic self,” she informed him, brushing her lips over his temple before settling down on her own side of the bed.

He shrugged it off and propped his head up on one elbow, obviously in the mood for a little evening chat. “How’s Red doing?” he asked curiously.

Elizabeth sighed and rolled over on her side to face him. “She’s a bit sad that she’s leaving,” she admitted. “And she regrets that she and Tara never managed to sort things out.”

“’S always rough,” he agreed.

“It could be us in another two years,” she commented a bit morbidly.

“Nah,” he said with a quirky little smile. “You don’t graduate for three years.”

Elizabeth gave him a scowl. “You’re graduating in two years,” she informed him.

“If you say so,” he teased.

“Spike…” Her voice had a definite warning tone.

“I know, I know,” he sighed, turning back to the topic at hand. “Not much we can do ‘bout it, now is there?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Not worrying about it day and night’s probably a good start.”

“I’ve been tellin’ you this for how long?” he ribbed her.

Another scowl, but this time she snuggled up against him nonetheless. “I don’t want to lose you,” she decided.

“Then you won’t,” he decided with a yawn.

“Try to sound more sincere, why don’t you?” she teased.

He gave her an annoyed scowl and then yawned again. “’S all up to us in the end, kitten,” he informed her sleepily. “Our decision to make ‘bout what’s most important.” He shut his eyes and rolled over to bury his head in the pillow.

Elizabeth shook her head. “I love you, you know,” she murmured with a yawn herself. “Even if you are a lazy slacker…”

He mumbled something into his pillow that was either “I love you, too” or some rather creative invective. In either case, it caused Elizabeth to smile as she drifted off into sleep…

Until next time...

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