A/N : Woah, so much support for this fic - I'ma little overwhelmed! Thanx to you all! Really hope you like this new chapter. Oh, and a side-note; Dawn's sacrifice and the fact that no-one remembers her except Buffy and Spike was just to bring the two of them together, Dru's baby is not Dawn.
(For disclaimer, etc.- see chapter 1)

Chapter 3

Buffy groaned as she was woken by a soft voice calling her name. She turned over, pulling the covers over her head, it was only as she did so she realised something was wrong. Her own bed was softer than this, the linen did not smell of smoke, and there was no man in her house to be waking her up instead of an alarm clock. She sat up too suddenly almost smacking into Spike who had been leant over her trying to wake her up. He hadn't wanted too, she looked so calm, at peace with everything. After so much trauma in her young life it was wonderful to see her that way, a small smile playing at her lips as she dreamt of a more pleasant world, but he couldn't let her sleep the whole day away, the others would be fretting by now.

"Oh God" Buffy moaned, her hand going to her head as her expression grew ever more confused and she looked terribly pale, "I feel like death"

"Talking to the expert, pet" Spike smirked but she didn't reply or smile at his joke even, just put her face in her hands and tried to breathe without throwing up, not an easy task it seemed.

"Bourbon is evil" she said, her voice muffled by her hands but he heard anyway, "More evil than evil" she declared, collapsing back onto the bed and curling up in the foetal position.

Spike smirked, not laughing at her so much as enjoying the innocence of her situation, she was so clearly a virgin drinker. He walked around the bed and knelt down so he could see her face. She looked at him with wide eyes, such a child in that moment.

"I'm sorry, luv" he sighed, reaching out a tentative hand to push loose strands of hair from her face, "Shouldn't've let you get so wasted last night"

"It's not your fault" she said so softly, if it wasn't for his enhanced hearing he might not have heard her at all, "You were trying to help"

"Did a bloody crappy job of it, didn't I?" he said, quirking an eyebrow as he tilted his head and looked at her, "Made you feel worse than ever"

"No" she told him, hand creeping out, fingers moving slowly across the space until they reached his, "Thank you" she said as her warm hand slid over his own cold one, "Last night I... I had a good time" she smiled slightly, finding it was one of the few things she could manage without feeling worse.

"Me too, pet" he admitted with a smile, "At least til we got back here and you bloody threw yourself at me" he rolled his eyes, "That was bleedin' torture"

Buffy's eyes grew wider still at his words and she fought to remember exactly what had happened. All she could recall clearly was a bar, and drinking, and some fighting, then glorious sleep. The parts in the middle were decidedly fuzzy but as she fought the fog that had engulfed her brain she found a few extra memories nestled in the cotton-wool type substance that was her drunkenness.

"Oh God" she winced as she recalled the scene, the way she'd kissed Spike, pressed her body up against his, and pretty much asked him to take her. Her hand slid from Spike's as she covered her face and wished a hole would open up and swallow her. She'd made such a fool of herself! She was never, ever going to drink alcohol again.

"Come on, Slayer, wasn't as bad as all that" Spike assured her as he moved to sit beside her on the bed and attempted to pry her hands from her face. She peeked at him through her fingers, and then frowned as she uncovered her face and stared at him, like she was trying to read his soul, should he have one to read of course.

"What?" he asked, a little worried by her intense gazing at him.

Usually she was telling him how disgusting he was and how she couldn't bear the sight of him so this was quite strange, especially since she was currently sober.

"You didn't..." she began, stopping again seconds later and then staring over, "You said no to me" she realised.

She had little memory of what either of them had done in the crypt last night, but she did know she'd woken up fully clothed and alone. Nothing had happened, nothing but a little kissage that she seemed to recall she had started and he'd barely responded too.

"I did" Spike agreed, unable to look her in the eye for long as he glanced downward, "Hardest bloody thing I ever had to say to anyone I reckon" he told her, "You have no idea how much soddin' willpower it took to walk away when you were... God, Slayer, if you only understood how much I love you" he said, still not really looking at her.

Buffy was stunned. Not just by the fact he seemed so shy about his feelings suddenly but that he really had fought against strong emotions and desires that rushed around inside him, so he didn't take advantage of her.

Pulling herself up to a sitting position, she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, Spike" she said softly, before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and walking towards the ladder, her stomach lurching and head pounding terribly as she did so.

"You going then?" he called behind her, and she paused and looked back at him.

"The others'll worry if I don't get home" she said, sounding as if she as almost sorry to leave, or so Spike thought, before reminding himself how stupid that was.

"I'd offer to walk you but don't fancy playin' the Human Torch today" he smirked and she managed a smile back.

"I'll be fine" Buffy assured him, "Big tough Slayer girl, remember?" she said as she climbed up the ladder and was gone.

"Hey" Buffy smiled as she let herself in the back door and found Willow, Tara, and Giles all there, "What's up?"

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed, running over and hugging her friend, "We were so worried about you, are you okay?"

"I'm fine" the Slayer nodded, "Well, pretty much fine" she said, leaving it at that.

She didn't really want to tell her friends she'd gotten drunk and slept at Spike's crypt. They'd think it was strange and ask her why. The only way to explain was to mention Dawn and open a whole can of worms that Buffy couldn't deal with right now, her hangover had not improved sufficiently for such a conversation.

"Did something in particular cause your patrol to take so long?" Giles asked from his position sitting at the counter, as Tara put a cup of tea down in front of him and he smiled a thanks to her.

"No, nothing particular, no Big Bads to worry about" Buffy assured him, "I guess I just... lost track of time" she said as explanation, before faking an over-sized yawn and saying she was going to take a shower and get some sleep if no-one minded. Luckily she had no work to go to on this particular Saturday, and she was eternally grateful for that.

Willow was frowning hard when her friend left the room and Tara knew why.

"You're still worrying, Will" she observed.

"I can't help it" the red-head sighed, sitting down opposite Giles at the counter, "I just know something isn't right"

"I must admit, Buffy has been somewhat different of late" the Watcher agreed, "More distant perhaps and distracted, though she has been doing well enough in her training and keeps appointments quite well. I'm really not sure what to make of it" he admitted, taking off his glasses and polishing them as he was want to do.

"Maybe I should talk to her" Willow considered, "I mean, I know I should, as a friend and all, and then I think if she needed to talk about something she would, without me asking her about it"

"I confess I have wanted to ask her what might be the matter" Giles agreed, "but I admit the thought had occurred it may be, well, a female problem shall we say" he said awkwardly, making Tara and Willow smile at each other. Poor Giles was just so old fashioned and terribly British sometimes.

"I'll try to talk to her later, when she's had some sleep" Willow decided, "Put all our minds at rest"

"Good idea, sweetie" Tara agreed as they all sat around drinking their tea, and the subject soon turned back to the point of them being there.

The two Wiccans had told Giles about Xander and Anya's secret engagement and the three had now got together to organise a small celebration for the pair. Of course they had thought Buffy would join in too, but given the circumstances they decided to just plan the event and fill her in later, they were sure she wouldn't mind.

Buffy took her shower and felt much better for it. The warm water was soothing and relaxing and the painkillers she found in the bathroom cabinet eased her aching head. She was soon in her own bed, comfortable beneath her own duvet, and waiting for sleep to claim her, but nothing happened. Though her eyes were closed and she looked perfectly peaceful, inside her head Buffy's mind was working over time and in no mood to sleep.

Mostly the thoughts that spun through the Slayer's brain concerned a certain bleached blond vampire named Spike. The guy was turning out to be quite the enigma, or so it would seem. Angel was special because he was the only vampire to be cursed with a soul, but it was almost as if the thing that made Spike special was that he was the only vampire who didn't need a soul to be good.

For months now, years even, Buffy had tried to deny that there was anything good or pure in Spike. He was a vampire, a humanoid creature with the demon lurking inside. He wasn't really a person, he didn't have feelings or emotions, he couldn't love her like he said he did. All this she had believed, until last night.

If what he felt for her was purely lust or simple obsession he would have taken her when she begged him too. He'd have responded to her kiss and her touch, used her body for his own pleasure whilst giving Buffy hers, but he didn't. She was drunk enough, Buffy was ashamed to say, she would have done just about anything he wanted her to last night, and yet he'd said no, walked away so that he didn't take advantage of the woman he loved. Yes, she believed it now, he did love her, he had to.

It should have occurred to her before now, Buffy realised. What other reason could a man possibly have to be so kind, so thoughtful, to take so much abuse and still be there to take some more. He had to love her like he said he did, and last night, the Slayer realised, was the last bit of proof she needed.

The question now became, did it matter? Was it important that Spike's love for her had been proven real? She wanted to tell herself no, that it didn't matter. She could never want him that way, not really. Sure, he was attractive, in that badboy punk rock kind of a way that seemed to appeal to most girls, and he loved her so unconditionally, but that didn't have to mean she felt the same.

Whilst the larger, more sensible part of Buffy's brain was saying all these things there was a smaller voice, quieter but nonetheless able to be heard that said it all mattered, it mattered a lot because she did feel something for Spike, something that grew a little more each day, something that could be described as that crumb he'd been looking for last year, when he'd had her chained up in his crypt, threatening to kill Drusilla to prove his love. That particular thought drove the tiny voice out, reminding Buffy that no matter what else Spike was still a vampire, and his ideas about romance were dubious at best.

'Go to sleep already!' Buffy told herself, shutting her eyes tighter and burying her head in the pillows. Of course that didn't help at all.

As sleep finally overcame her, her mixed up thoughts of the vampire that loved her seeped into her dreams and she was back in his crypt, lying on his bed as she had been just an hour or so before.

This time when she kissed him she wasn't drunk, and he didn't say no to her, just promised that he would love her always as he kissed her back with a passion the like of which she'd never known before, but it wasn't just lust and desire. In his eyes she saw the love he always told her he felt and she never even hesitated as she told him she felt the same, that she loved him too.

When they made love it was incredible, the most passionate and yet tender and gentle experience of Buffy's life and she never wanted it to end. When it was finally over and they lay spent together, bodies still entwined, Buffy tried to relax but found it was impossible.

A shadow moved across the far wall of the crypt and she sat up, holding the bedclothes around her naked body. Spike didn't move at all, and she jostled his shoulder, trying to wake him but he didn't stir. Since he didn't breathe and was cold to the touch, he might have been just another dead body.

Buffy shivered involuntarily at the thought as the shadow from before loomed over her, bigger and darker than before.

"Who's there?" she asked, in true horror movie style, as footsteps could be heard coming closer.

"When the bow breaks the cradle will fall" said a too familiar English voice, the insane cackle that followed confirming the Slayer's suspicions.

"Drusilla?" she said warily as the figure of the vampire woman stepped out of the darkness.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" she sing-songed, over and over as flames licked up from the floor, catching her dress and setting her whole form ablaze.

She screamed, a blood curdling scream, loud enough to wake the dead, and Buffy jolted awake, breathing heavily and breaking out in a cold sweat.

What the hell was that all about?!

To Be Continued...