Sunrise

He didn't know how many minutes had passed by when he realized that she had been staring at his face. He looked at her in the corner of his eyes at first, but when he saw the thoughtful expression on her face, he turned to look at her.

"What?" Spike asked Buffy with the normal weak hint of frustration.

Buffy blinked when he spoke, as if he had woken her from sort of dream state. When she understood that he had caught her staring, she looked away and her expression turned embarrassed instead.

"Nothing," she mumbled.

Spike rolled his eyes. She's a bad liar, he thought. He searched the pockets of his coat for his lighter, and then he lit a cigarette for himself. At the same moment that he had turned his eyes away from the slayer sitting next to him, he felt her turning her eyes to look at him again. This time, he pretended that he didn't notice. Though on some level, she probably knew that he felt it. They were sitting on a bench placed in the shadows, with just about twenty minutes left to sunrise. Spike knew that he should be leaving and return to his crypt soon, but for some reason he didn't. Was it the girl sitting next to him that made him want to stay? He knew it was true; he wanted to stay by her side for all time. That was all that he wanted, but he knew that it wasn't possible. How long, hard or cold the night, the sun always had to rise and give life to the new day. The day that he would never see.

At the moment, he didn't even know how long that had been sitting there, waiting for something to happen in the empty cemetery. The night was so awfully quiet, hell, he couldn't even hear any cars in the background. No vamps had been sighted for all night, and they had patrolled back and forth several times to make sure that they hadn't missed anything. Spike couldn't help but wonder if Buffy also had noticed the silence. She probably had, and she probably enjoyed it… he thought, he often had trouble to see what she was thinking about. Maybe that was what he liked with her. One of many reasons, he guessed.

Buffy rolled up her sleeve to check her watch. She looked up at the vampire again, with a somewhat worried face.

"Spike, you should really consider going back now if you don't want to turn to a pile of dust."

Spike smirked without looking at her.

"Worried, are you? Wouldn't you like it if that happened?" he asked her.

Buffy sat quiet for just some seconds, but it felt like an eternity for the both of them.

"No, I wouldn't," she said quietly." A- and I'm not worried!" She sure was quick to make sure that he didn't misunderstand anything.

She hadn't needed to say that last thing, really. He already knew that she didn't care that much for him.

"Easy, slayer. I was just joking. And by the way, I can tell that the sunrise is coming long before you can."

He looked up at the starry night sky. Yes, he felt the sunrise coming, quickly. It certainly was time to go back, if he didn't want the slayer's words become true. He stood up from his place on the bench and began to make his way towards the crypt that was at the other side of the cemetery. He could feel that Buffy's eyes never left him.

"I guess I'll be going then. Night, " he said as he was waving while walking. He didn't turn to look at her face, but he could guess what it looked like.

"Yeah… Good night, then. Spike," Buffy sighed as she saw the vampire melt into the darkness.

When she couldn't see him anymore, she turned her sight towards the sky again. Without moving an inch for the next ten minutes, the darkness around her began to dissolve and she watched the golden sun rise.