This is extremely short set after Spike becomes corporeal again during Angel. The quotes from after Buffy was resurrected in the sixth season.

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"How long was I gone?"

"Hundred forty seven days yesterday. Hundred forty eight today. Cept today doesn't count, does it?"

The punch isn't so much of a surprise. Still, it throws him. She's still got a hell of a right hook. For some reason, he hadn't thought this encounter would ever happen. He'd thought that as soon as he told Angel not to call her and tell her that he wasn't as dead as she thought he was.

Right at that moment, he glimpses the surprise on Angel's face, mirroring his own when he spots Buffy stalking into the building, fury dancing in her eyes. She bypasses Angel and Wesley, barely sees them, her gaze focused solely on Spike.

Then she's yelling at him, calling him names and crying. For the first time, he thinks maybe his decision had been the wrong one. He'd thought he was doing right by her. He tells her this when he can, when he can finally manage to get a word in.

He grabs her by the shoulders, looks into her eyes and tells her his reasons. He's still a vampire. He's still not human. He still can't give her everything she wants. She stares up at him.

"You idiot," Buffy says after a moment. "I just want you." There's conviction in her voice, resolve.

"Not always..." He knows that. It was, wasn't it, the reason why her and Angel had broken up. Because he couldn't give her a family or normal or any of that crap that most people wanted.

"You're wrong." The look in her eyes doesn't waver, no amount of doubt creeping in.

"How do you know that, love?"

She smiles then, even though she's still angry and she still kind of wants to kick his ass for not calling her. It has died down a bit, however, and she can't help but to smile. She can't help it at the sight of him, at the look in his eyes, at his words.

"Because," she puts a hand to his cheek, pulls him closer, and pays no mind to the audience they've got. "I've been counting too."

When she kisses him, he can feel it and nothing else matters.