*~Prologue~*

The rain beat down hard on the streets of Sunnydale. Rain didn't come often to Sunnydale, but when it did, it came down hard. Spike loved the rain. It was soo.....depressing. As he walked down the dark street of Sunnydale, he hummed a happy tune.

Getting hungry, Spike turned into an alley, where the exit of the Bronze, a popular hang out, was located. Crouching behind a dumpster, he waited patiently for the Bronze door to swing open. He didn't have to wait long. A young blonde girl exited alone. She was wearing a tight black skirt and a blue tank top. Cute, Spike thought. The girl lit a ciggaret and looked around nervously. You've got reason to be nervous, Spike thought to himself, you never know what you may find in a dark alley like this one.

After a couple long drags on the ciggaret, the girl flicked it to the ground and stamped it out with her shoe. She turned to exit the alley. Not so fast. Spike creeped out from behind the dumpster. The girl, obviously sensing something, stopped. As she turned to look around, Spike wrapped his arm around her neck, choking off her scream.

"No, no, beautiful. No screaming. I'm just a little hungry." Spike smiled and his face changed into his vamp face. The smile exposed his long fangs. He sunk them into her neck and drank, draining her. The smoke from the ciggarette made her blood taste slightly bitter, but blood was blood. The vampire version of chocolate.

When Spike was done, he let the body drop and he shook his head, returning it to its human disguise. He stalked out of the alley, turning to his left. As he turned he looked back, causing him to run right into The Slayer.

"God Spike! Watch where you're going!" Buffy pushed Spike out of the way and continued walking.

Spike's heart skipped a beat. Buffy was so beautiful. Especially when she was angry.

"Buffy wait!" Buffy turned and stared at Spike, waiting for what he had to say. "I...I'm sorry."

Buffy stared at him for a second, then turned and began walking away. Spike couldn't hold himself back. He ran up to Buffy and grabbed her arm, spinning her around. He stared into her eyes, then captured her lips in a kiss that only lasted seconds before Buffy pushed him away.

"Spike what are you doing? You sicko!" She gave him a disgusted look and pumched him so hard that the pain coursed through his whole body. As she walked away, Spike stared after her, not believing that he had actually kissed her. He had done it. He had done what he had been longing to do since he had first encountered the Slayer.

Suddenly everything around him went black. The Bronze, the rain, the streets, were gone. Buffy was gone. An image started to appear again. Spike looked around him and saw the familiar walls of his home. It had all been a dream. He had not kissed Buffy. But he would. He would.



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



Fog swirled around the Sunnydale graveyard, making it even creepier then before. The graveyard was the hotspot for the local bloodsuckers, which made it a hotspot for the Slayer. The one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to kill the vampires and demons. Why so many in Sunnydale? Sunnydale was located on the Hellmouth, which was literally the mouth of Hell. A magnet that attracted evil.

As Buffy Summers strolled through the graveyard, she looked at all the sites around her. Grave after grave, and the occasional mosileam. Buffy stopped suddenly as she felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Her Slayer senses kicked in as she sensed the movement to her left. Turning slowly, she saw a dark figure move between the grave stones. With no moon in the sky, it was hard to tell for sure if it was a vampire or not, but chances were that it was.

Buffy moved closer to the figure, and when it paused, she took advantage of it. Placing her hands on a grave stone, she vaulted herself into the air, catching the figure in the back of the neck with her feet, sending it to the ground with a painful grunt. Buffy landed on top of it. She jumped up, flipped the figure over and whipped out her stake. Riley smiled up at her.

"Riley? What are you doing here? I told you I was patrolling tonight." She held out her hand and helped him up.

"I know Buffy...but I just..." Riley stalled as he tried to fetch an excuse.

"Riley, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't patrol anymore. With your heart back to normal, it's to dangerous for you to be out here alone." Buffy gave Riley a concerned look.

"I know Buffy, it's just that I worry about you out here all alone."

She took his hand and they started heading out of the graveyard. "I have the strength of 10 men...you don't have to worry about me. Plus, not much vampy action tonight. Which isn't good, because it means that they are all plotting something together. Another plan to kill me."

"That's what worries me. There's always someone with a plan to kill you."

Buffy turned and kissed him. "Don't worry about me." she said when the kiss was over. They started walking again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



Spike stood in the bushes watching the scene. He cringed when Buffy kissed Riley. Oh, how he wished that he had been in Riley's shoes.

Spike's fantasies vanished when two hands covered his eyes. A cheery voice said "Guess who??"

"Hey Harm." Spike brushed her hands off his eyes and turned to face her.

"Spikey, what are you doing out here? Was that just Buffy I heard?"

Spike got nervous whenever Buffy's name was mentioned. "Buffy? Uh yeah, she was patroling with uhh Riley. I uhh was just making sure they wouldn't find you."

"Great Spikey! Thanks sooo much. You know she can't find me until you come up with a plan for me to kill her...which is soon, right?"

Spike didn't hear this last part. He was too busy watching Buffy with Riley as the exited the graveyard together. That's when he realized what he had to do. He had to get Riley out of the picture.

"Spike? Spikey?" Harmony had noticed that he wasn't paying attention to her and was trying to get him out of his trance. "Spikey, what's wrong? Ugh, you never never listen to me! You know if you weren't my only chance to get away from the Slayer I never would have come here...I kicked you out for a reason you know, and it just so happens..."

Spike of course was still ignoring Harmony. He slowly moved around the bush and stalked out of the graveyard. Harmony stopped midsentence and stared after him.

"Spikey?"