Around one table in the Bronze, four young people looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Buffy, hi" Spike greeted, ignoring Xander, as usual.

"Hey Will" Buffy said to the red-head, avoiding Spike’s gaze.

"Hi" Willow nodded in response to the Slayer "Hey Xander" she smiled a little at her other friend.

"Hi Will" he smiled, ignoring Spike, as usual.

Then there was silence.

"So..." Buffy said eventually, drawing out the word, hoping to have thought of something else to say by the time she’d finished, but she hadn’t. Spike had.

"Er, Buffy, don’t you need to patrol?" he asked "Because I was thinking I could come along, y’know help out"

"I guess so" she shrugged. She did need to patrol and Spike was pretty useful to have around for the vampire slayage. She was still mad at him but she’d missed him hanging around all day.

"Hey, we could come too..." Xander suggested but Willow drowned him out.

"NO!" she yelled, knowing Spike wanted to get Buffy alone "I mean, no" she said more calmly as all three of her friends looked shocked at her outburst "er, Xander, I kind of need to talk to you" she said as quietly as ever.

"Okay Will, we’ll talk" Xander nodded, a little confused.

A silent look passed between Spike and Willow as the bleach blond stood up from his seat. A look that said a thousand things but the main thing was ‘good luck’.

"Let’s go, Slayer" he urged and with a quick ‘see you later’ and a small wave to her other to friends, she followed him out of the club.

Spike’s notion that he might be able to use the slaying as a good excuse to get Buffy alone to talk was a stupid one when he thought about it and he soon realised his error in judgement. Every time he plucked up the courage to open his mouth and say something clever, a vampire attacked and the fight was on. After this had happened three times Spike was getting agitated.

As the Slayer began to walk off after brushing her latest slayee off of her clothes, he called her name to her, in an attempt to get her to stop and turn back, but she didn’t.

"Buffy, pet, I sort of wanted to talk to you" he almost whined, and she stopped, but still would not turn back.

"Save it Spike, I don’t want to know" she called over her shoulder, making to walk away again but he was behind her in a second, his hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

"Well, you’re going to!" he protested, truly sick of all the games and mix-ups and lies "I love you, damn it" he yelled, his voice echoing through the graveyard "not a bloody buggerin’ thing I can do about it and it’s driving me crazy" he complained as he stormed up and down in front of Buffy, who was quite shocked by his outburst. This was the first time she’d heard those three words from a guy since Angel "I know you feel something for me" Spike told her, suddenly all in her face "what with the kissing when I first moved in and then..."

"That was just..." Buffy started but then began to flounder as no plausible excuse came to mind "I don’t know what it was" she admitted "but it wasn’t love"

"Maybe not" Spike conceded "but you feel something for me Buffy I know you do"

"It’s all in your head" she scoffed, waving it away with a gesture of her arm and trying to walk away, but he wasn’t finished yet, he had one more piece of ammunition, one thing that couldn’t fail him. He didn’t need to physically stop her walking away from him, there was another way.

"What did you dream about the night you got drunk Buffy?" he called, causing her to stop dead in her tracks as he knew it would.

"I...I don’t remember" she stammered not daring to turn around and face him. She knew she couldn’t lie when she looked into those crystal blue eyes of his.

"Well, I bloody do" he told her, all of a sudden right behind her once again "You made it pretty obvious..."

"That was just the alcohol" she interrupted, turning but keeping her eyes to the ground "and...and..."

"And what?" he demanded to know, getting increasingly annoyed by her determination not to feel anything for him "What are you afraid of Buffy?" he asked, his hands on her arms, dipping his head to see her face, urging her to look at him "What, you afraid I’m gonna...?"

That’s as far as he got with his sentence as Buffy made the fatal mistake of looking up into those eyes she’d been trying to avoid. She couldn’t hold up the pretence any longer, instead she pushed herself toward him and kissed him all but senseless.

This wasn’t like before, they’d kissed before but this was different, that flicker he saw in her eyes just before it happened, he saw the feeling, the love? There wasn’t time to wonder as the moment was all to quickly broken.

Buffy felt a strange sensation and it wasn’t coming from the kiss. The shiver that went down her spine was not from the wonderment of the kiss as it should have been, it was her Slayer sense warning her of vampires.

By the time she figured it out and pulled herself from Spike’s grasp, there were three vamps surrounding them. She kicked two, one after the other, away from herself and the young man beside her, he himself managed to land a punch on the third bringing him down, momentarily.

Kicks and punches flew in all directions until finally Buffy managed to stake two of the enemy. It was as she turned she saw Spike was having more than a little trouble with the third. A female vampire, but a strong one, she had the bleach blond pinned down and was moving in for the bite.

Buffy was upon her in one movement, pulling her off Spike and raining an unnecessary amount of punches on the demons face and body before finally grabbing her stake and plunging it into the heart of her friends attacker.

"You stay away from my boyfriend, you freak!" she practically screamed as the vampires face contorted and quickly exploded into dust, along with the rest of her.

The Slayer moved back toward Spike and helped him up from the ground.

"Are you okay?" she asked, genuine concern in her voice and on her face.

"Just fine, pet.." he smiled slightly "..er, when you...? What did you just...?" he shook his head, wondering if he’d dreamt it and if so how much had been an illusion? The kiss? The vampires? The ‘stay away from my boyfriend’? Right then, he wasn’t even sure whether he cared or not.

"Spike, you were right" Buffy told him, tears behind her eyes "about everything" she admitted "I do care about you, I do...I think I might...love you"

"Buffy..." he began but she shook her head.

"No let me finish, please" she said, helping him to sit down on a nearby headstone, he’d been pretty shaken up by the vamp attack "I haven’t been fair to you" the Slayer said, in a soft quiet voice he’d never heard her use before "I got scared, which is stupid because I fight demons and vampires and stuff all the time and when it comes to relationships I’m petrified" she laughed at herself but her heart wasn’t in it, and she stood before Spike looking so small and lost. He smiled as he reached his hand out to touch her face.

"Look, I don’t know exactly what happened with that Angel bloke you dated..." he started but again she laughed and interrupted.

"He wasn’t a ‘bloke’" she explained "he was a vampire"

Shock dawned over Spike’s face.

"You dated...but..." he stumbled over his words.

"Thought that might shock you" Buffy said, looking back down at the ground.

"How?" came Spike’s one word question.

"He had a soul" Buffy gave as explanation "he helped me, he said he loved me and I think he did" she smiled at the memory of him "but it wasn’t meant to be" she added, solemnly.

"What happened?" Spike asked, his vocabulary coming back to him gradually.

"That’s not important really" Buffy told him, shaking her head "point is it made me weird about guys and boyfriends and stuff. My relationships with everybody are strained because I’m the Slayer" she turned her back to him as tears spilled from her eyes and her voice cracked "Everyone I get close to, I cause them so much pain"

"What are you going on about?" Spike asked her gently, standing up behind her.

"Don’t you see?" she sobbed as she turned around "If I wasn’t the Slayer, Willow and Xander would have normal lives, so would you!" her voice got higher and more strained and her tears flowed faster as she continued " Giles never would have left your Mom, you could’ve had a happy childhood. My Dad left, Angel left...all the bad stuff happens because of me, me being the Slayer" by the end she was practically hysterical and she fell into the bleach blond’s arms.

"Hey now, come on. Sssh now Buffy," he comforted her, rubbing circles on her back and kissing the top of her head, "you’ve got nothing to cry about and certainly nothing to feel guilty about" she pulled back a little to look up at him as he continued "First off I don’t know much about your Dad but I don’t see how you caused him to leave your Mum, you told me you were just a kid when that happened. Second, I did have a happy childhood" he told her honestly "okay so I was a little late finding dear old Dad" he smiled "but I was just fine with my Mum. As for your friends, they love you and no-one forced them, or me, to help you fight the good fight, we all chose to do it because we want to"

She sniffed and smiled a little.

"You make it sound so simple" she said quietly "and...better, somehow. I never thought of you as the optimistic type"

He laughed at that.

"Can’t say as I did either, pet" he turned serious very quickly and his voice became softer as he continued "but I’ve changed, since I came here" he looked into her eyes "since I met you"

She glanced away from his gaze.

"You sure it’s not meeting your father that’s changed you?"

"Giles is a decent bloke" Spike admitted "he makes my Mum happy and I reckon as father’s go he’ll be just dandy..." again he turned deadly serious as he caught her gaze again "but I’ve changed because of you Buffy, because I fell in love with you"

"Oh Spike, I love you too" Buffy finally admitted, all the emotion of the night taking over "Just now when that vampire..." she couldn’t even say it "oh God I thought...I couldn’t bear to lose you" she went further into his embrace and hugged him tight and began to cry again.

"Hey, come on" he smiled, despite her tears. She’d finally said what he’d been waiting to hear. "You didn’t lose me, I’m right here" he comforted her "I’ll always be right here. Hey," he grinned, pulling back to see her face "if I’d have known a near death experience was all it took to get you to see sense I’d have thrown myself to the vamps a long time ago"

"Spike, that’s not funny" she said seriously, pulling away from him.

"Sorry, luv" he said, looking toward the ground, he was turning into Harris, making jokes at important moments "but seriously, I’ll be here as long as you want me to be" he promised her.

She smiled at that and went back into his arms again.

"How about forever?" she suggested "Does forever sound good to you?"

"Sounds just perfect to me" he said in a whisper, before their lips met again, in a real kiss of true love.

"So..." Xander drew out the word, glancing between the red-head beside him and the table he was sitting at.

"So..." Willow said in a similar way, looking more at the table than the guy she was talking to.

"You wanted to talk to me Will" Xander prompted "and now you’re all like ‘quiet-as-a-mouse girl’. What’s the deal?" he asked, trying to see her face as she kept her head down.

"Well..." she began, unsure how to say all that she wanted too.

"Come on Will, ‘fess up" Xander urged "You know you can tell me anything, we’re best buds" he grinned, giving her a friendly shove with his elbow.

"Well maybe I’m tired of being your ‘best bud’ Xander" she suddenly snapped, and her friend looked quite taken aback as she pulled herself up in her seat and looked straight at him "I’m a gir...a woman, God dammit" she amended "and I wanna be treated like one! I want you to notice me and I want.."

"I do notice you Will and I think you’re incredible" Xander told her honestly, but now in full flow Willow barely heard him.

"No, let me finish, I want..." she continued before his words finally sunk in "hold on, what did you just say?"

"I said I do notice you, and you’re incredible" he repeated, smiling warmly at her and making her face heat up.

"Oh" was all she could manage to say as she went red as her hair, her focus going straight back to the table top where she considered it safest to look. Her hands fidgeted on the table in front of her until another hand came across and landed on top of them.

"Willow" Xander gained her attention again "we’ve been best friends since kindergarten, so, when we got older, well, it took me a while to notice that, hey, you’re a girl" he laughed at himself more than anything else, at just how blind he’d really been.

"Why?" Willow asked in earnest "You always seemed to notice Buffy was a girl"

"No, no, now you see you have it all wrong!" the brunette shook his head in protest "I hung around Buffy when we were kids cos she was tough, the makings of a little Slayer and all, I guess, she was good for protection" he admitted "not that I didn’t like her as a person too, cos I did" he defended himself "I did and I do..okay, I’m babbling again" he inwardly cursed himself for being his usual idiot self but Willow, as usual, just thought it was cute.

"Yes, you are babbling" she agreed with a smile "like a brook, actually...but Buffy" she said seriously "you look at her, I’ve seen you, y’know that way that guys look at girls...y’know, and you seem really jealous of Spike" she looked like she might cry and Xander hated to see it, hated to know he’d caused her to feel so bad when he cared for her so much.

"Okay, I’m not jealous of Spike" he assured her "not that way, I just want to protect my friend from a potential heart-breaker and the guy is just annoying" Xander sneered a little before getting back to the point "And the other stuff is just a physical thing, Will. I don’t know how, but Buffy came back from visiting her Dad in LA one summer and she was just like totally babealicious..." he closed his eyes in horror "and please don’t ever let me use that hideous word again" Willow nodded, assuring him she wouldn’t let him and he continued "but I was never ‘in love’ with Buffy, she’s just fun to drool on" he grinned in the way that only he could.

"And I’m not?" Willow looked a little hurt, and pulled her hand from his.

"Yes, no, I mean..." Xander sighed on frustration "y’know I’m pretty sure this is a trick question cos whichever way I answer it’s gonna come out offensive and you’re gonna get mad at me"

"I can’t ever get really mad at you Xander..." she told him and off the face he made she amended "okay so maybe occasionally, but...I still love you, I..I’m in love with you" she finally said it out loud and then looked away immediately "and I know you’ll never feel that kind of love for me but..."

The red-heads possible ramble was abruptly cut off as her lips were no longer free to move. Xander’s own lips were upon hers and he was kissing her in a way she couldn’t have dreamt of if she’d tried - it was simply incredible. When they finally came up for air the girl that usually had all the vocabulary on the tip of her tongue could only find one fairly unintelligent word.

"Wow"

"Yeah" Xander breathed.

Finally feeling she had her bearings back and both enough oxygen and words to form a sentence, Willow opened her mouth to speak.

"Why did you...?" she began before shaking her head "Actually, I don’t think I care" she decided, before putting her hand up behind Xander’s head and pulling him into another passionate kiss.

A while later when more oxygen was needed on both sides, Xander had a chance to answer the question he knew was in Willow’s head, even if she said she didn’t care about the answer.

"Because you gave me the courage, like you always do" he told her "I’ve wanted to do that for sooo long"

"Me too" she giggled.

"Truth is" Xander said, picking Willow’s hand up from the table once again "I’m in love with you too, Will" he looked into her eyes as he continued "I think I have been for a long time now, and I know I always will be"

The smile on the witch’s face couldn’t have got any wider if she’d have tried to make it so, those words were all she ever wanted to hear and now she’d heard them.

"Enough words now" she said with a shy smile.

"Yeah" her ‘boyfriend’ agreed with a nod, before the kissing resumed once again.

As his alarm clock beeped into life, for once Spike decided he didn’t care. He was actually looking forward to school this morning, he was looking forward to the whole day, because he knew he got to spend most of it with Buffy, the girl he could now call his girlfriend.

He got up, got dressed, and noticed the stupid grin on his own face as he did his hair in the bathroom mirror. Part of him thought what an idiot he was being, how pathetic his love-sick behaviour was, but he really loved the Slayer, in a way he never knew he could love anybody and he just didn’t care if he acted a little odd or looked ridiculous, because he had Buffy and that was all that mattered.

Picking up his bag, he left his room and headed for the stairs, practically running all the way down and to the kitchen. He was less eager to be there when he saw what was happening within.

His entrance and attempt to exit did not go unnoticed despite the fact that his mother and father appeared to be glued together at the lips.

"Oh, Will, please, come back" he heard his Mum call as he turned.

"Should I just come in blindfolded to save everyone’s embarrassment" he smirked.

"Will, please, this is serious" Jessica told him, siting down on a stool by the counter as Giles did the same.

"So am I" Spike nodded, also taking a seat now.

Jessica just ignored his final comment as she glanced at Giles then back at her son.

"Now you know Rupert and I have been getting...reacquainted" she began and Spike couldn’t resist his next comment.

"Is that what they call it these days?" he asked, the smirk reappearing on his face all too easily "Sorry" he added quickly when he got twin disapproving looks.

"Anyway" Jessica continued "he is your father and I still love him very much and..." she faltered, "well...we’re getting married" she announced, showing off a rather impressive looking diamond on her hand.

Spike was silent.

"If that’s agreeable to you of course" Giles immediately started to ramble "I mean, I don’t expect you to be joyous about this, I’m sure it’s quite a shock and of course you are accustomed to it just being you and your mother, but I do hope you can accept that I love Jessica very much and I care for you too, and I would like us to have some sort of ,er, bond, if you like..."

"You make her happy" Spike said suddenly, cutting his father off mid-ramble "and that makes me happy" he paused before continuing "and I kind of like having you around,...Dad"

The final word made for a somewhat stunned yet elated set of parents as he knew it probably would, but what he’d said had been true, every word.

"Now, I’m gonna let you two have some ‘alone time’ now" Spike smiled as he got up from his seat, grabbed a piece of toast from the counter and headed off to meet Buffy for the walk to school. At the very thought of her he felt like he was walking a foot off of the floor and thinking about last night he decided was probably dangerous for his heart rate. They had patrolled for hours, although there was a lot more kissing than staking, if he was honest. As he thought about it he realised he had a lot to thank Willow for really and that started him wondering, how had things gone for her last night? He’d have to make sure he found time to tear himself away from Buffy for five minutes for a chat with Red.

"Good morning Spike" Joyce smiled as she opened the front door, "Buffy’s just.."

"I’m here!" came a loud voice from the top of the stairs, quickly followed by the owner of the voice at lightening speed.

"Hi" Spike smiled as Buffy made it to the front door, her jacket half on, half off and her bag hanging from her arm with books threatening to spill everywhere.

"Hey" she smiled back before turning to her mother, "I have to go"

"What’s the rush to get to school?" Mrs Summers wondered aloud as her eldest daughter kissed her cheek and made for the door.

"Y’know, school" Buffy said as if it were obvious, "Gotta love the learning" she smiled and laughed like a mad person and Joyce just nodded, said goodbye and closed the door. Spike laughed.

"What was all that about?"

"Nothing" she lied, unconvincingly, and the look on his face let her know he wasn’t buying it.

"Okay, okay" she said, pulling her jacket on straighter and dealing with her bag, "Maybe, I was just wanting to see you this morning, maybe"

Spike was obviously flattered, but also somewhat embarrassed and amused too.

"Well, maybe I wanted to see you too, maybe" he teased and she hit him playfully on the arm. He grabbed her hand as she did so and pulled her into his arms, raining kisses onto her face.

"Not that I want you to stop" Buffy smiled between kisses, but we have to get to school".

Spike conceded that she was right and they went back to walking, hand in hand.

"Oh, I s’pose I should tell you about Mum and Giles" Spike suddenly realised, "They’re engaged"

"Seriously?" Buffy gasped, "Wow, that’s like a major deal. Are you okay with that?" she asked him, "I mean, I know he’s your Dad but you haven’t known him long"

"I like the bloke" Spike assured her, "and Mum loves him, and he loves her, that much is obvious...yes, I’m happy about it"

Buffy looked over at him, walking beside her, she knew the smile on his face was genuine, that he really was happy and she was glad. She noticed something else too.

"Hey, are you wearing a blue T-shirt?"

"Yeah" Spike nodded, glancing down at said T-shirt beneath the black leather of his jacket "why’d you ask?"

"But you don’t wear colours" Buffy said suspiciously and Spike smiled at the strange look on her face.

"Just didn’t feel like being all black today" he shrugged, slipping an arm around her shoulders as they walked "Probably your doing, pet" he told her, squeezing her momentarily.

"I make you feel...colourful?" she said with a lop-sided smile, unsure whether that was a good thing or not.

"You make me feel a million different things, Slayer" he told her, looking down into her eyes "and I love every one of them, because I love you" he concluded, leaning down and kissing her on the lips briefly.

"Wow" she smiled "how did I not notice you were so sweet before now?"

"Sweet?" he exclaimed, pulling away from her "Here, you take that back!" he said horrified "God, you’ll have people thinking I’m some sort of poofter"

Buffy could only laugh at the look of shock and disgust on his face.

"You are not a poofter" she insisted "whatever it means" she added quietly "but you are very sweet to me" she said carefully, moving toward him again and encouraging him to put his arm back around her and walk with her again, "You’re sweet and kind and sexy and wonderful...and did I mention sexy?" she smiled, mischievously as they reached the school gates.

"Only want me for my body, eh Slayer?" Spike smirked in response.

"No..." she replied looking almost shy "but I’m too polite to decline an offer" she continued, the mischievous twinkle returning to her eyes. She reached up to kiss him and he wasn’t at all adverse to the idea but...

"Buffy!" came a very loud interruption in the form of Willow.

"Bloody hell" Spike cursed as Buffy moved away a little.

"Spike..." she scolded his tone as well as his words just as their friends arrived beside them "hey, Will, Xan" Buffy greeted, glancing downward "ooh, with the hand holdage" she practically squealed as she pointed at her friends entwined fingers.

"Guilty as charged" Xander smiled, lifting his hand and Willow’s up as if to emphasise the point "but I see it’s contagious" he gestured toward his friend and Spike, whose hands had found each other too.

"Oh yeah" Buffy smiled, happy for herself and her friends alike.

Unfortunately though, this was school and not the happy-love club and the ringing of the bell meant that some people had classes to get to.

"Oh damn" Spike said annoyed at the interruption "I gotta go, pet, but I’ll see you later?" he checked, turning his back on Willow and Xander as he faced his girlfriend.

"Definitely" she told him, and there was an all too brief kiss before Spike disappeared into the crowds of students.

"I have to go to" Xander admitted "See ya later sweetie" he said, turning to Willow and kissing her cheek.

"Sure" she smiled as he too disappeared amongst the student population of Sunnydale High.

The two girls stood side by side as the crowds dispersed, thinking of the two guys they loved and stupidly missing them already despite their departing only thirty seconds ago. They unconsciously sighed in unison, which caused them to giggle afterwards. Linking arms, Buffy and Willow walked into the building chatting.

"So, I guess things went well with you and Xander last night" said the blonde.

"Better than just ‘went well’" Willow admitted "oh Buffy, it was amazing" she gushed, which was not something the witch usually did.

"I want details" Buffy demanded.

"And you’ll get them" Willow promised "but you have to share too, about you and Spike" she smiled "I knew you two were perfect for each other"

"You knew?" Buffy asked, somewhat surprised "Why didn’t I see it?" she frowned.

"Love is blind" Willow sighed, it was so true.

"I guess" her friend agreed "but it’s pretty rampant lately, Giles and Jessica are engaged"

"Oh that’s great" the red-head exclaimed, over-excitedly "We should head to the library later and congratulate him"

"Yeah" Buffy nodded in agreement, it would be cool knowing Giles would be right next door should she need him, and Jessica and Spike would be so happy with him, she knew.

"But first" she said, turning to Willow "spill about last night" she demanded as she returned from the bright looking future to the also bright present.

"Well..."

Meanwhile, Xander had caught up with a certain bleach blond on the way to math class and an uncomfortable silence had ensued after the initial greetings.

"So" Xander tried to make conversation "you and Buffy"

"Yeah" Spike nodded "and you and Red"

"Yeah..." Xander nodded too "took your time" he pointed out.

"I did?" Spike practically yelled, incredulously "What about you?"

"Good point..." the brunette was forced to admit, before adding, perfectly seriously "I still dislike you a lot"

"Hate you too" Spike agreed, equally straight faced.

"Okay, but we should maybe be civil for the girls sake?" Xander suggested as they got to class and sat down next to each other.

"Agreed" Spike conceded "Truce?" he offered, holding out a hand.

"Let’s call it a semi-truce" the boy beside him decided, shaking the offered hand "no manly-fighty stuff around Will and the Buffster"

Spike snorted with laughter.

"You? Manly?" he smirked in disbelief.

"Hey, none of that!" the brunette complained with a whine "We just agreed"

"Well" Spike considered "the girls aren’t here right now"

Xander glanced around the room, despite the fact he knew Buffy and Willow weren’t going to be there.

"Good point" he nodded "now, about your stupid hair..."

Spike just rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the Whelp as class began.

The day ran smoothly for the Scooby gang. It was filled with the normal classes, talking, studying and messing around, along with the not quite so normal, but very enjoyable, kissing sessions.

As planned all four of them made time to visit the library to see Giles and wish him well in his engagement to Jessica. Apparently, the wedding would be in a few months and then Giles would move in with his ready made family. Spike seemed happy, Giles seemed happy, her friends seemed happy - that was all Buffy noticed and all she cared about, and the fact she was happy too? A great little bonus.

The only thing that had her wondering, a little uncomfortably actually, was what Spike and Willow were saying to each other behind that book shelf...

"Hey Red" Spike greeted his friend, causing her to jump as she hadn’t known he was there.

"Spike, you okay?" she asked as she turned from the books she was looking at to face him.

"Yeah" he nodded "I just wanted to say thanks for last night"

"Well, I didn’t really do anything" Willow smiled, going back to the book shelf.

"But you did" the bleach blond persisted "more than you know. Thing is, I never really had friends" he said somewhat sadly, studying his boots and the floor in front of him, "actually, don’t tell anyone this but I’ve only had one real girlfriend, and that relationship went to hell" he paused before continuing slightly less sadly "anyway, if you hadn’t put me straight on a few things yesterday, I might have given up, and I wouldn’t have the amazing girlfriend that I have now" he smiled as he looked past the book shelf at the blonde in question, Buffy, his Slayer.

"You would have been with her" Willow told him "maybe not now but eventually, you’re just made for each other"

"Like you and the Wh...Xander" Spike amended, remembering his semi-truce with Xander and really not wanting to upset his witch friend by insulting her bloke.

"Yeah, well, I hope so" she smiled, looking over at the brunette she loved so much.

"Trust me Will" Spike said seriously, placing his hand on her arm "you two are for life"

That made her smile too. It was only when Spike moved to walk away that she realised something...

"Hey" she called "you just called me Will, not Red"

"So I did" Spike realised as he replayed his words in his own head "guess I should get used to it too, calling you by your proper name, I have to learn to call Xander by his apparently" he mumbled the last past with a certain amount of disgust.

"Yes you do" Willow told him as sternly as she could manage before a shy grin took over "but you can call me Red if you want too, makes me sound special"

"You are special" she was a little surprised to hear the young man beside her say "you’re a real friend and like I told you I haven’t had many of those"

The pair of friends shared a warm smile, before Willow spoke again.

"Well, you and me and Xander and Buffy will be best friends forever" she said with a nod of certainty.

"You can’t know that for certain" Spike shook his head at her too perfect view of life.

"No, I can’t" the red-head admitted "but I feel it, y’know? Like a force of good versus all the evil that is Sunnydale and the Hellmouth"

There was a moments silence as Spike considered what she’d said, and with another glance over at Buffy he understood exactly.

"Yeah" he nodded with a smile fixed firmly on his lips "Yeah, I think I know what you mean"

Everyone was much too happily in love to pay much attention to anything demon-related, and luckily there was nothing major spilling out of the Hellmouth at that time. Giles took the decline in evil activity to cross reference the latest books he had added to his collection and Buffy wasn’t exactly sorry to be able to skip training and instead wander home from school with Spike, without his father, her Watcher, as a chaperone.

There was a final lingering kiss on the path outside the two young people’s houses, before Buffy said she absolutely had to go inside, before her sister spotted them and made a big deal out of it.

"Will I see you tonight?" Spike asked her, as she began to move away.

"Since Xand and Will are having their first real date tonight, you can help me patrol" she told him, "Seven thirty?" she suggested.

"Sure, pet" he smiled, "I’ll be there"

She smiled and gave a small wave as she headed into the house and he did the same.

At seven twenty nine there was a knock on the front door of 1630 Revello Drive and Buffy rushed to answer it, knowing who it would be.

"I’m going out with Spike, Mom!" she called.

"Where exactly?" Joyce wanted to know as she followed her daughter toward the door.

"The Bronze" Buffy quickly lied and as she nodded her head, Buffy knew her mother had bought it.

"Don’t be too late" Joyce warned as Buffy practically threw herself out of the house, the only answer to Mrs Summers words being the slamming of the front door.

"Hey Spike" Buffy smiled widely at her patrolling partner and boyfriend, standing just inches in front of him.

"Hey there Slayer" he murmured, pulling her into his arms and kissing her like he’d never stop. When they finally broke for air, he explained why.

"I missed you"

Buffy laughed at that.

"Spike you saw me less than five hours ago" she said as they began walking towards the nearest cemetery, "but" she admitted, "I did miss you too"

They smiled like idiots in love which they more or less were before Buffy realised something was wrong. The bag on her shoulder was too light, it should be full of weapons for the slayage and weighing her down, but it wasn’t.

"Oh God" she exclaimed, "I left my bag open" she realised, "I’ve probably been dropping stakes and holy water all the way from home to here"

"How did we not notice?" Spike wondered aloud.

"I think our concentration was kind of not on the vampire and the weapons, more on each other" Buffy exclaimed with a smile, "not that you’re a bad thing to concentrate on but we can’t do much good slaying like this"

"True" Spike conceded, "Let’s head back and pick up what we’ve lost"

"Sounds like a plan Buffy agreed as they took the path back the way they came, scouring the ground in the darkness for lost demon-fighting weaponry.

At he same time, Joyce had decided to visit Jessica and Giles. Buffy had told her about the pairs engagement and she was pleased for her friends. She left Dawn in the house playing CDs and slipped next door for a few minutes. The happy couple were clearly pre-occupied when Mrs Summers came over as Giles’ shirt was unbuttoned when he answered the door and Jessica looked decidedly dishevelled when she joined him.

Joyce stayed on the doorstep just long enough to say congratulations and to apologise for disturbing whatever they were doing - as if she didn’t know what that was!

Unfortunately, she was there just long enough to make a difference. As Spike and Buffy moved back towards their homes, picking up the last of the weapons the Slayer had inadvertently dropped, they disturbed a vampire who had ventured too far from the graveyard - a mistake that would be fatal.

"Buffy, vampire" Spike alerted her as she bent to pick up the final stake. She dropped the bag off her shoulder and held the weapon in her hand ready for attack.

"Spike, grab the bag" she ordered, "I’ll deal with him" she gestured to the vamp with a tilt of her head before lunging in it’s direction. She was a little surprised when, instead of fighting her, the vampire just ran, but then it was probably just a fledgling and the Slayer would be scary to him.

Buffy thought nothing of where she was chasing the demon to, but Spike had noticed and frantically he went after her, not as quickly as he would have liked since the bag on his shoulder was weighing him down. If she slayed that vamp outside their houses and someone saw...

"Got you now" Buffy told the vamp as it trapped himself between two trees and the Slayer. "Say goodnight" she quipped, shoving her stake through the unbeating heart of the creature and watching it’s horrified face turn to dust along with every other apart of it.

"Buffy!" Spike called to her, and she turned expecting to see him smiling, proud of his girlfriend ability to kill the undead single handedly, but that wasn’t what she saw. He looked pained and decidedly out of breath as he gestured near his front door.

Buffy was now only too aware of where she was and who had just watched he display of Slayer skills. Giles, Jessica - not a problem, but there was another person there too, looking equal parts shocked and confused and horrified.

"Buffy...what, I mean how and..." Joyce rambled incoherently.

The Slayer took a deep breath and bit the bullet as she knew she had to.

"Mom" she said slowly "I’m a Vampire Slayer"

To Be Continued...

Chapter 25 - Family Values

"Mom I’m a vampire Slayer"

"Oh my..." was all the words Joyce managed before she passed out, thankfully, straight into the arms of Giles. Jessica helped her fiancé to half carry, half drag their neighbour into her own house, which Buffy hurriedly opened the door of. Almost as soon as the woman was deposited on the couch she started to stir.

"I can’t believe you never told her you’re the Slayer" Jessica exclaimed, standing with Giles one side of her, Spike the other while Buffy knelt by her mother.

"There was a never a good time" the girl made her excuse just as she noticed her sister come into the room from the kitchen.

"You’re a what?!" she asked with shock, she’d obviously heard what Jessica had said.

"Dawnie, please, stay out of this" Buffy urged, helping her semi-conscious mother to sit up a little more.

"Mom! What’s going on?" the younger Summers demanded to know as she hurried to her Mom’s side.

"I’m not sure dear" Joyce admitted, turning on the sofa and patting the spot next to her "Come sit here, maybe Buffy can explain"

Dawn did as she was told as Buffy stood up and took a deep breath.

"Okay, from the top" she sighed, turning briefly to look at the three people just behind her "and maybe you guys could help me out a little" she pleaded, knowing how difficult this was going to be "Mom, vampires and demons are real, and I’m the one who kills them and I’m called the Slayer" she explained as simply and clearly a she could.

"How many Slayers are there?" Joyce asked with a frown as she glanced at the other inhabitants of her living room.

"Oh, only one" Giles jumped in feet first and in complete Watcher mode "You see, to every generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the would with the strength and skill to fight..."

"Dad" Spike interrupted with a sigh "you’re not helping" he told him as he saw the confusion of Joyce’s face seemingly increase with every word hid father uttered.

"Giles, I..." Buffy started before turning to her boyfriend "wait a second, did you just call him Dad?"

Spike smirked at that, he hadn’t really noticed that he’d done it himself.

"Well he is my father, isn’t he?" the boy shrugged, with a glance to the man in question "‘Sides with him and Mom getting hitched I figured it made sense"

"Buffy..." Joyce tried to get her daughters attention back to her, she needed some more explanation, she was so confused and bewildered by all this.

"Oh, Mom, yeah" Buffy shook her head to clear all other thoughts as she turned back to her mother "so, I’m the Slayer and I kill vampires and sometimes other demons too" the Slayer waited for her mothers reaction to the bizarre news she was giving her.

"Like the...thing out there" Mrs Summers gestured out of the window to where she’d seen what was apparently a demon of some kind?

"Yeah, pretty much" Buffy nodded that it was true. She was quite surprised that her mother wasn’t more angry or less calm about all this, but she was glad too.

"And, and you all knew about this" Joyce asked the family in her living room, "and I didn’t...oh my, I must be a terrible mother" she shrieked, covering her face with her hands.

"Mom, you’re really not" Buffy promised her.

"But school teachers and your friends and the neighbours know more about you than I do" Joyce protested, looking as if she might cry or go hysterical or both at any moment.

"That’s not true, Mom" her daughter tried to explain "well, maybe it is true" she conceded "but Mr Giles knows because he’s my Watcher. You see, a Slayer slays and a Watcher..."

"Watches?" Joyce guessed, just as her daughter once had.

"NO" Giles yelled indignantly "I train the Slayer, er, Buffy, to fight the demons"

"Yeah, and Jessica and Spike know about Slayers and Watchers and everything cos they’re Giles’s family" the eldest Summers tried to make her life sound less of a lie than it was, hoping still that this was as bad as it would get, that her mother was not going to crazy about this, although she couldn’t really blame her if she did.

"But we’re your family Buffy" Joyce sounded more hurt than anything else now.

"Yeah" Dawn agreed, simply to cause more trouble, her sister had no doubt about that.

"I know" Buffy told her mother, ignoring Dawn, "and I wanted to tell you it was just...hard"

The look on her daughters face and in her eyes most especially told Joyce that Buffy was telling the truth and that it had been painful for her having to hide this secret and that she only did it because she felt she had to.

"Well, at least no-one else found out before me..." she smiled, a little, but frowned again when Buffy looked away "did they?" she wondered aloud.

"Well, Cordy knows" the Slayer admitted "and Willow, and Xander" she all but whispered "but that’s all, I swear" she hurriedly added.

"Oh, this is a lot to take in" Joyce sighed, trying not to pass out again.

"You got that right" the fourteen year old at her side snapped "Maybe they’re all just crazy?"

"Zip it, Dawn" Buffy said sternly, causing her sister to fold her arms over her chest and look daggers at her.

"Don’t talk to me like that" she yelled "just cos you’re some dumb Slayer"

Before Buffy went off at the deep end, as he knew she would, Spike stepped in.

"It’s not dumb Little Bit" he told the youngest Summers "your sis here has saved a whole load of people doing what she does"

"With your help" Buffy looked up at him and smiled appreciatively for all he’d done and for what he was trying to do now.

"Only research though" Giles was quick to throw in "Spike doesn’t fight vampires..." he trailed off when he saw the look on his sons face. Jessica saw it too.

"William Rupert Hart you tell me what that look is for!" she demanded, causing a giggle from Dawn who echoed the middle name that was so amusing. Buffy had to stifle a laugh herself.

"Well maybe I helped once" Spike admitted "or twice" he shrugged "per week" his voice got quieter as he continued "or more, maybe"

"I don’t believe this!" Jessica exploded.

"You’re not the only one" Joyce agreed and both Buffy and Spike wished the floor would swallow them whole, or even better if they could just rewind the tape and play last night again instead of tonight.

"Look, honestly, it’s okay" Buffy announced to the room, standing up in the centre of everyone and silently demanding their attention "I would never put Spike or anyone else in danger" she promised "I can handle myself, being the Slayer and all, and y’know he hasn’t been fighting vamps for long but Spike’s learnt real fast and he’s a real member of the gang"

"Gang? There’s a gang?" Joyce, who was starting to feel better about the situation during Buffy’s little speech went straight back into full panic mode at the word ‘gang’.

"Buffy’s in trouble! Buffy’s in trouble!" Dawn sang with delight causing a stern look from both her mother and sister.

"Perhaps we should go" Giles realised, as he began to feel increasingly uncomfortable "give you some time" he said quietly, ushering his fiancée and son toward the front door.

"Dawnie why don’t you walk across the street to your friend Janice’s for a while" Joyce suggested, realising it was time she and Buffy had a long talk.

"I can’t" the brunette said happily "she’s out, besides, I wanna stay"

Both Joyce and Buffy looked annoyed by this although neither had another explanation. Giles and Jessica were out of the front door by now but Spike just heard what was said and came back into the room.

"How about you come to our place Little Bit" he suggested "I kind of need to talk to you anyway"

"You do?" Dawn exclaimed her eyes wide and happy at the prospect of talking alone with Spike "I mean, okay, yeah, let’s go" she rambled, jumping to her feet and practically running out of the door with him following behind her, smiling proudly that he had saved Buffy for once instead of the other way around.

The two young people, the Slayer and her boyfriend, shared a smile as he left and Buffy brought her attention back to her mother.

"Does she...?" Joyce began but her daughter knew what she was going to say.

"Have a crush on Spike?" she finished for her "Totally"

To Be Continued...

At 1630 Revello Drive, Joyce Summers and her daughter Buffy were having a serious mother-daughter talk, but this wasn’t your average chat between mother and teenager. They were discussing Buffy being a Vampire Slayer. For this conversation to go as smoothly as possible, it had been necessary to remove Buffy’s sister Dawn from the mix, and that’s where Spike had stepped in. And so next door, Spike and Dawn sat in his room, both cross legged on the bed, having a talk that was almost just as serious, especially to the girl involved.

"So, what do you wanna talk about?" she asked, smiling in a way she thought was grown up and womanly.

"Well, the thing is Dawn..." Spike began "I like you"

Well that was his first mistake since she took it completely the wrong way, flushing red and sounding completely over excited when she asked;

"Really?"

"Yeah" he smiled, not realising she’d taken it in a different way to that which he meant it "you’re like the little sister I never had" he said honestly and the smile dropped completely from her face.

"Oh, little sister, great" she mumbled, dejectedly.

"And y’see" Spike continued "I like your sister too, I love her actually and..."

"Y’know what?" Dawn cut him off as she got to her feet "I so don’t need to hear this right now, or ever actually"

"Oh come on Dawnie" he called to her as she reached the door "I thought you were a grown up?"

"I am" she retorted, spinning on her heel to face him again.

"Then hear me out, okay?" he said with an almost pleading smile. Part of him wanted her to stay because he really did want her to hear him out, the other part knew he had to keep her there for Buffy and Joyce’s sake.

"Okay" the now slightly grumpy teen conceded, repositioning herself on the bed, legs crossed, as before.

"Well, thing is, I want us to be friends, Bit" Spike told her honestly "even if me and your sister are sort of ‘dating’" he said for lack of a better word "Is that okay?"

"She won’t like you being friends with me" Dawn told him with a sulky expression to match her tone of voice.

"Well, she’ll just have to, won’t she?" he smiled and Dawn liked the sound of that, she smiled a little too.

There was a few moments silence before the girl asked her next question.

"Why didn’t she trust me enough to tell me she was this Slayer person?" she wanted to know. Spike sighed.

"It’s not that she didn’t trust you, pet" he promised her "she just wanted to keep you safe. I did too" he admitted, only realising as he said it how true it was "Don’t want some nasty making a snack of my favourite under sixteen, do I?" he smirked that smirk that was all his own and she giggled.

"Guess not" she agreed, starting to think maybe if she was too young for him to be her boyfriend, maybe they could be just friends, good friends, and she’d be just as happy with that.

"Y’know what Spike?" she smiled "You’re cool"

"So they tell me" he replied modestly.

"I hope when I’m older I end up dating a great guy like you" she blushed when she said ‘dating’ and ‘you’ in the same sentence and she ducked her head to hide her red face behind her hair.

Spike smiled at her compliment as well as her embarrassment, reaching out a hand to lift her chin.

"They’ll be queued up around the block for you, luv" he assured her "But if any of them screw up they’ll have me to deal with" he said, seriously as ever.

Dawn smiled and nodded.

"I think I can live with you being older-brother-guy" she told him and with that she flung herself at him, hugging him tight. He was surprised, shocked even, but pleasantly so. He did like this girl, as a little sister type of course. She had no father to speak of these days, and he would enjoy playing older brother for her when she needed him.

"I should go now" she said as she pulled away from him and hopped off the bed.

"Alright luv" Spike let her go, hoping he’d given the other two Summers women time to talk out their issues "but go easy on big sis, okay?" he added as she left the room "She has a rough time of it"

"Okay" Dawn promised she would, because she’d do anything that her ‘big brother’ asked of her.

At the same time these two, almost-siblings, were having their little talk, Dawn’s real sister was in a nice and uncomfortable conversation with her mother.

"I can’t believe all this" Joyce gasped, now sitting up on the sofa, clutching her head that was spinning faster all the time "I mean, how did I not notice?"

"I guess I’m a pretty good secret keeper" Buffy said, quietly, seated beside her mother, hardly daring to look at her.

"So, Mr Giles and Jessica and William and your friends - they all know?" Mrs Summer checked she understood.

"Yes" Buffy nodded once.

"But no-one else, right?" Joyce asked next.

"No, no-one else" Buffy assured her "and it has to stay that way" she added hastily, suddenly aware she hadn’t pointed that out before.

"Of course" her mother almost laughed, "I wouldn’t know how to explain this to anyone anyway"

The front door opening and closing again stopped Buffy from saying anything and soon her sister appeared in the room.

"Hey, I talked to Spike" the youngest Summers told her sister "I’m sorry if I was off with you Buffy, about the whole Slayer deal. I guess it’s kind of cool actually" she smiled a little as she shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

"I guess" Buffy smiled back at her sister who, as much as she annoyed her, she loved very much and was glad she could deal with the Slayer thing. Plus Buffy was ever grateful to Spike for whatever he said to Dawn to make her so reasonable.

"I’m gonna get to bed now" the brunette Summers smiled, kissing her mothers cheek and smiling at her sister "goodnight"

As the girl disappeared up the stairs Joyce checked the clock and realised why her daughter had chosen to sleep now.

"It is getting late" she realised.

"Yeah, I really should patrol" Buffy blurted out without thinking.

"Patrol?" Joyce echoed, confused yet again.

"Yeah" the blonde girl nodded "I search the graveyards and cemeteries and other dark and nasty places and kill any demons or vampires that I find"

"Oh" Joyce sighed "is it...?"

"Safe?" Buffy completed her question for her since she knew exactly what was coming "It’s okay Mom" she assured her "I’ve been doing it for years"

"Years" Joyce got a further shock then "but how...?"

"Window" her daughter said simply.

"Oh" was the only reply Joyce could give and she felt perhaps she’d even worn out that one.

Buffy realised then that the best thing to fill the latest silence was an apology.

"I really am sorry I didn’t tell you about this sooner Mom" she said honestly "I just wanted to protect you"

"Protect me?" Joyce gaped "Buffy, honey, I’m the parent, I’m supposed to protect you" she smiled as she took hold of her daughters hand.

"Well, maybe now we can learn to protect each other?" the girl suggested, hoping her mother would accept it and let her do her much needed sweep of the Sunnydale cemeteries.

"Yeah, I guess that’d be okay" Joyce nodded her acceptance "but later, tomorrow, I have more questions I’m going to need answered"

"I understand that" Buffy nodded too "and we will, we’ll do the whole mother-daughter Slayer question time thing, I promise"

"But you need to go...patrol...right now?" Mrs Summers stumbled over the unfamiliar term.

"Yeah" her daughter said, standing up, but her mother pulled on her hand.

"Buffy, please be careful" she all but begged of her little girl.

"I always am" the Slayer assured her with a smile, "always"

"Hi, is Spike around?" Buffy asked Jessica as she opened the front door.

"William!" the woman bellowed up the stairs as Buffy shifted uncomfortably on the doorstep. She had a feeling Jessica did not approve of her secrecy where her mother was concerned, that and Spike’s own secrecy that was linked to her.

"Oh, hi" aforementioned bleach blond smiled at the girl beyond the door.

"Hey" Buffy smiled back "I was gonna patrol now and I thought...?" she trailed off realising Jessica still stood there, beside her son, not looking completely happy.

"Mum?" Spike looked on his mother with pleading eyes, and after a moment of awful silence and anticipation, the future Mrs Giles caved in.

"Go" she said simply "just be careful, okay?"

"I promise" Spike said with a smile, grabbing jacket and getting out of the door, with Buffy, in two seconds flat.

The walk back to the cemetery was quiet as both the Slayer and her boyfriend had much to think about and neither was sure what to say about the evenings events so far. Deep in thoughts, Buffy was almost unaware that she was giggling.

"What’s so funny, Slayer?" Spike wanted to know, and she couldn’t help herself.

"Other than your middle name being Rupert?" she smiled, causing him to duck his head in embarrassment - hardly a fitting name for a guy who fancied himself to be bad.

"Oh, you noticed that" he said quietly.

"Yeah" Buffy nodded and desperately tried to hold in a further fit of giggles.

"I see now why I have it" Spike realised "never made sense before, poncy name" he grumbled and the Slayer laughed more.

"It’s not that funny" the bleach blond complained, secretly stifling a laugh himself.

"Oh, I’m not laughing at you anymore" Buffy assured him "I was just thinking, well, I never thought things would turn out this way" she explained as they reached the gates of the graveyard, she turned to face him.

"What way is that, pet?" he wondered aloud.

"Well, Cordelia moved away and I was so depressed cos she was like my best friend ever" Buffy told him "but here I am, little over one month later and I’m the complete opposite of depressed-girl, I’m like totally-happy-girl" she grinned, before listing all the wonderments in her life "Giles has a fiancee and a son, which is all kind of miraculous, then there’s Willow and Xander who have finally got it together, Mom and Dawn know about the whole Slayer deal so no more lies which is cool and..." she smiled with some mischief "I’m dating possibly the greatest guy in the whole world"

"Really?" Spike smirked with satisfaction "that last part?"

"No, not really" Buffy admitted with a straight face, watching his own face drop dramatically "I didn’t mean to say ‘possibly’, I meant to say ‘definitely’" she covered with a smile, of course that was what she’d meant to say all along, she loved to wind him up.

"You’re a vixen, Slayer" Spike told her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close, his voice dropping as he continued "but I’m completely in love with you - did I mention that?"

"I think you did" Buffy told him, her smile never wavering "but maybe you should tell me again just to be sure"

He smiled too at that.

"I love you Buffy" he said as seriously as ever, looking right into her eyes.

"I love you too Spike" she breathed, hoping against hope that no vampires jumped out of the bushes right now, as the couples lips came together in a passionate kiss.

When they finally came up for air, Buffy was still smiling.

"Y’know with all the weird stuff in my life" she sighed "and I still manage to end up living a cliché"

"What cliché’s that, luv?" he asked , still holding her close in his arms and looking into her hazel eyes.

"Falling for the guy next door" she told him, causing a smile on his face as wide as hers.

"Oh, that" he said, his crystal blue eyes dancing "I happen to think that’s a very nice cliché, as clichés go" he told her.

"Yeah" she sighed contentedly again "I always like the part where they live happily ever after"

"And so will we, pet" he assured her with a squeeze.

"How do you know that?" she wanted to know, it was beautiful but could it really be true? That she, the Slayer, could live happily ever after with this wonderful man?

Spike looked thoughtfully at the moonlit sky for a moment, and then he smiled once more.

"I don’t know it" he said simply, looking back into her face, "I feel it. Don’t you?"

"Yeah" she replied with a small nod, a smile spreading over her own lips, "Yeah, I think I do"

~~ THE END ~~