Love Is...

Song: "Love Is..."

Artist: Jea & Miryo

Pairing: Spiffy [Spike/Buffy]

Disclaimer: I consider myself a Whedonist, so no disrespect is intended! I don't own Buffy! If I did, the Spike movie would be on, Angel would never have had his own side series, and the show would still be alive and well

Crazy. Buffy thought as she prepared Dawn's lunch. Love is absolutely crazy. But the twenty-something Slayer wasn't thinking - or grumbling, rather - about how early she'd had to wake up this morning, or how demanding her little sister was about her lunch. She was focused more on the recent craziness surrounding her friends and their relationships; Anya and Xander's hectic breakup at the altar, Willow and Tara separating and coming back together...

You falling for Spike. A part of her brain reminded.

"Shut up!" She told it. Out loud. Oops.

"Um, morning Buffy and Company..." Dawn said slowly as she entered the kitchen. The elder Summers girl turned around with a plastered-on sunny smile.

"Hey Dawn! Ready for school?"

"If by school you mean the daily torture facility where I'm supposed to 'learn'," she was careful to emphasize the air quotes around "learn", "then I guess so." Buffy kissed the crown of her head.

"Oh come on, can't be that bad." She insisted without conviction. After all, she'd hated school just as much, if not more, as Dawn did. Sensing her sister's zero confidence in the statement, Dawn snorted.

"Yes, it most definitely is. But I go, because if I don't..." She looked at the kitchen island, not finishing her sentence, but Buffy knew what she meant. Instead of finishing the dismal thought, she hugged Dawn tightly but briefly.

"Well, you should get going then. You'll be late." Dawn rolled her eyes, grabbed the lunch and gave Buffy a goodbye kiss before disappearing through the kitchen door. Now alone in the large house, Buffy lowered herself into the chair Dawn had vacated and stared sadly around the kitchen.

It seems so sad and empty now. She thought sadly. She stood quickly and hurried, with unusual eagerness, to get ready for her shift at the Doublemeat Palace. At least there'd be people there.

She ended up being rather wrong, however, and after several long, agonizingly slow hours, she was allowed to leave.

The house was still empty when she arrived, a note on the fridge from Dawn alerting her to a study group at Janice's house. A hollow feeling settled itself somewhere in Buffy's heart and she meandered slowly up to her bedroom to change and prep for patrolling.

Her room did not end up being the safe haven for loneliness and a pity party that she'd hoped, however. For when she went in, she discovered an unexpected guest.

"Spike." She deadpanned. The Billy Idol-look alike vampire grinned.

"Hello there, love. Looking a little blue. Work not treatin' you well?" He asked teasingly. Buffy rolled her eyes and tossed her coat on the bed.

"Either tell me something's out there waiting for me to kick its ass or go away, Spike." She said wearily. Instead, he pushed himself off the wall and stepped toward her.

"Don't much feel like it." He answered pleasantly. She backed away toward the door several steps. He advanced as well, reaching behind her head and closing the door. Buffy held her breath, searching for a way around him to her weapons cache as he loomed over her.

"Well you should learn to be less lazy." She said distractedly. As she said this, Spike leaned forward and captured her mouth with his. It took Buffy's brain several seconds of not doing anything to realize what was going on. She shoved him back, glaring and wiping her mouth with disgust.

"Oh god Spike! No!" She yelled. Having regained his balance, Spike laughed.

"Come on, it'll help you work off the tension you're obviously feeling." He insisted. Glaring, Buffy snatched the wooden cross from her dresser and held it up in his direction. He gave an exasperated sigh.

"Geez Buffy, we both know you're just afraid that someone's gonna find out. And we're the only one's here. So what's the problem?"

"The problem is that last time we did this, I woke up feeling disgusted with myself. And I'm sick of feeling like that." Spike took a step closer and Buffy raised the cross to his eye-level. "Not another step!" He stepped to the side and just as Buffy was moving the cross to follow, Spike reached over and knocked it from her hand. As fell to the ground across the room, he shook his singed hand. Before Buffy could successfully reach the weapons chest, he'd grabbed her waist.

"How you feeling now, Slayer?" He whispered in her ear.

"Like staking you to dust." She managed. She tried to take a deep breath to slow her heavy breathing, but then Spike was kissing her again and she responded with wrapping her arms around him with all her strength, hopping up so her legs were around his waist. As his lips moved from hers, Buffy's mind came back to her thought from that morning. Love is crazy.

But, she thought as Spike led her to her bed, love is also wonderful.

Crazy wonderful.

FIN(N) [yes, pun intended]