"Hey Dawn get your butt down here. Xander just pulled up and I don't want you late for school or making him late for work." Dawn yelled from her room.
"I'll be down in two minutes." Xander opened the front door walking in making a b line for the coffee maker.
"Hey Buff you are looking good." She walked up to Xander whispering to him.
"Don't worry Dawn is in her room." Xander scanned the room to make sure it was empty before making his move. He stepped to her and whispered.
"You look amazing today Buffy." She smiled and put her hands on his collar looking in to his eyes.
"You look pretty amazing yourself" Xander leaned in and kissed Buffy slowly and softly. He pulled back and looked at her.
"This is always my favorite part of the day. I get to see you. I can pretend we are a real couple."
"I wish we could tell people Xander." He nodded and let go of a sigh.
"I know. I want the same thing but right now it's too soon. I mean I was engaged a month ago and if Anya found out."
"I know. You are right. Being right doesn't make it any easier." They heard the footsteps on the stairs and Xander stepped back from Buffy and picked up his coffee cup. Buffy picked up an issue of People trying to look casual.
"Hey Xander. Are you ready to go? "Ready when you are." Buffy handed Dawn her oh so familiar and predictable blueberry Poptarts.
"I want you home right after school. You are still in trouble." Dawn sighed and nodded. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed towards the front door. As she walked out the front door she looked at Xander.
"She is such a hypocrite. When she was my age she snuck out her window every night." Xander walked to the passenger side opening the door for Dawn.
"Well you are right about that. The difference was Buffy was sneaking out to kill the undead not to make out with a boy."
"Oh come on. Are you going to tell me in all those years with Angel it was all killing undead?" Xander opened his mouth ready to say something then laughed.
"Okay fine you are being punished for nothing life sucks welcome to your teenage years."
A few minutes later Xander pulled up to the front of the school. "Have a good day Dawnie."
"Thanks for the ride Xander." She jumped out of the car and ran quickly to her friend Janet. Xander smiled and drove to work.
A few hours had passed and Buffy had ran to the grocery store picking up a few basic supplies. Willow was sitting at the table in the kitchen going over her psych notes when she heard the front door fly open quickly and slam shut. She looked up to see Spike wrapped in a blanket.
"Why do you run out in the middle of the day? One of these times"
"Yeah yeah Red I get it. Big ball in the sky going to make me a big pile of ash. Save the lecture."
"What are you doing here Spike?"
"I got some big nasties looking for me. I need a place to hide for a couple hours."
"Buffy isn't going to like"
"I'll be in the basement the entire day. I just need some place dark and gloomy. Won't be in anyone's way. Where is she? I'll ask her that way you won't have to be in the middle."
"She went to the store. She'll be back soon enough." Willow picked up her book bag and started packing her books and paper in to her nap sack.
"Off to class?" She nodded and threw the bag over her shoulder.
"You can stay till she gets here but if you make a mess."
"Yeah yeah I know." With that Willow left and Spike opened the basement door going down the steps. Their was an old twin bed they kept down in storage and he figured at the very least he could catch a few hours sleep.
Buffy walked in carrying two paper bags. They weren't so much hard to carry, as they were just big and awkward. Spike heard the bags and footsteps on the floor and groaned. He knew he needed to go talk to Buffy. He rolled over on his side.
"Willow you here?" She called up the steps. She sighed getting no response. "Lonely old Buffy" Xander walked in through the front door just a few seconds later.
"Hello Hello. Your favorite handy man is here with the right tool for the right job." Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes at the corny joke. Spike stopped at the basement door opening it just a crack. He didn't feel like dealing with Xander right now. Xander in the mean time had walked to the grocery bags and started to help Buffy put them away.
"So Buffy how is your day?"
"Don't worry. No one is here We are good." He smiled stepping to her and put his arms around her waist and pulled her in to a kiss.
"How's my girl?" Spike's jaw dropped on the floor. If his heart had been beating what he had witnessed might have stopped it.
"I love it when you say that. I like being your girl." He smiled keeping his arms around her for a little longer."
"I was having this thought. Next weekend Will is going to that Women of the Coven convention in LA and Dawn's friend Janice is having her sweet 16 so she isnt' going to be around much."
"I like where you are going with this."
"Well it's not like we can go out in the open but that doesn't mean we can't spend the weekend together" Just then his phone rang out. He sighed quickly taking it out. "Damn I better get back to work." Buffy just nodded.
"Okay you can go. But just so you know I'm holding you to that whole weekend in" He was out the door and Buffy went back to putting groceries away. Spike had decided it was time to let his presence be known.
He cleared his throat as Buffy turned around quickly. She dropped the bag of sugar she about to put away. "Spike what the hell are you doing here?"
"I asked Willow if I could hide out here a few hours." He had an angry look on his face. He put his hands behind his back. "I have some people looking for me and."
"How long have you been here?"
"Well I was going to come up and help you carry the bags but it seemed someone beat me to it." Buffy suddenly lost the color in her face.
"You saw Xander here?"
"Cut the crap Summers. You thought you could just keep something like this secret."
"Spike you might have seen some things that."
"This is a joke right? I mean XANDER HARRIS. What about what we have shared? What about?"
"This is a joke right? What we have. Spike I've said it before. I don't know how much more clear I can make this. There will never ever be an us. You are beneath me."
"I'm beneath you am I?" The bitter words hung in his mouth and all that was left was anger. "I wasn't always beneath you. I can remember a time being under you and on top of you."
"I swear to God Spike if you ever tell anyone"
"Anyone? Anyone? Maybe a certain carpenter."
"Give me a reason to stake you."
"Oh we can't anger Xander." He looked her up and down "I can't even stand to look at you. You have no idea how much you." Buffy had heard enough and laughed.
"Can't stand to look at me?" She went over to the blankets that was on the floor and pushed it in to Spike's arms giving him his invitation to leave. "Right cause you are such a good man compared to Xander?"
"I've had your back I am the"
"Xander is a good man cause deep down that's who he is. There is no good in you Spike. There is a chip. A chip that might I add time and time again you have tried to have removed. Every day Xander does what is right because that's who he is. Every day you wake up and you crave destruction. You crave pain and the only reason you don't do it is because you can't"
"Chip or not I am a good man." She shook her head and laughed.
"Right cause since you've had that chip you has been so good. Do I have to remind you Riley came back in town cause you were selling demon eggs? He was going to kill you."
"That was."
"Then there was that time at the garbage dump. You saw Toth and decided to give him the heads up. You told him to kick my ass."
"Look that was."
"You know what else I remember? I remember Xander throwing himself in front of me. He took the shot that was meant for me cause. Well that's cause it's who he is. So the next time you want to compare yourself to someone I'd aim a little lower. Think garden slug. Xander Harris is the finest man I've ever known. You are filth."
"Filth?" She pushed him against the door angry.
"And you are no longer welcome here." That taste of anger that had been there seconds before was now multiplied time ten. Spike glared at her wanting to hurt not just her but Xander. He quickly shrouded himself with the blanket and flung open the door running out. Buffy watched him scurry and smoke.
She knew Spike was going to talk. It wasn't his style to play secret keeper. She could threaten him left and right but that was almost a dare to him. Tell Spike not to do something and it was the surefire way to see that he does. She closed her eyes shaking her head. "Xander isn't going to like this."
