~~~~
"I have some in the fridge." Spike suggested.
"It's disgusting!" She shouted. "But... yeah, get me some."
As Spike was getting her the blood, she was still in basic denial over all of this. "How come I'm a vampire?"
"Becuase we turned you." Angel answered. "It took both of us but it's possiable to bring back someone who's already dead."
"Alright, and how come I'm not sucking Willow and Xander's brains out right now?" Buffy was still confused. She wasn't sure if she should be glad to be back, or mad that she'd become a vampire without her own consent.
"I gave you your soul back." Willow bragged. "I can do that, you know."
"I can never watch the sun raise again? And now I have to drink blood?" Buffy complained.
"I got over it." Angel and Spike both said the same words at the same time. It should have been funny, but no one was laughing.
"Sorry." Buffy suddenly said, as Spike handed a mug filled with blood. To her own surprise, she drank it right away. "Sorry. I guess I should say thank you. Not get mad, you know. I mean, you fixed it. We saved the world, and no one died, right? "
"Someone's baby might have." Angel brought it up again. "If you really had been reincarnated - someone lost their baby."
Buffy barely reacted much to that, exept for a little sigh. "Maybe that baby is still alive. It's just someone else. Another soul. We can't really know - I mean, I'm not sure who I was. I could have been black, white... asian. I could have been a boy."
Angel noticed it was almost time for the sun to rise. "It's going to be morning soon. Xander, mind if I crash at your place?" He couldn't ask Buffy, it would be too weird. He couldn't ask Spike, they weren't exactally pals. He couldn't ask Willow, chances were she and Tara wanted to be alone. Then again, Xander and Anya probably wanted the same thing. Actually, since it was daytime, probably they wouldn't even be around. Besides, he had to go somwhere.
"Sure." Xander answered as soon as he had time to register what he'd been asked.
Xander and Angel left right away.
Willow did the same after giving Buffy a big hug. "I'll really glad you're back."
"Me too, I guess. I never wanted this." She actually laughed, "The Vampire Slayer becoming a vampire. Kind of ironic, huh?"
"It'll get easier." Spike tried to comfort her, but saw it her eyes she doubted his words.
Willow left, and Spike and Buffy were alone.
"What happened to Dawn? To my house?" She found herself asking, finally.
He gave her flat out answers. "Dawn's with a foster family. Giles is looking into adoption. They sold your house and put the money into an account for Dawn when she's 18."
Buffy shock a little bit. "So wear am I supposed to live?"
"You could stay here."
Buffy gave him a disgusted look, and he rushed to fix how that sentance had come out. "I mean, you could stay up here. I'll be downstairs."
"You sure?" Buffy asked.
"Of course I am, luv. Make yourself at home." He almost didn't say it, but added, "There's blood in the fridge... you know, if you want it."
"Spike?"
"Yeah?"
"Tell me the whole story. How'd I get back here - as a... a vampire?" She choked on the last word. It hurt to say.
"Whole story, huh? There was lot of crying, stuff like that." He started, but didn't know where he was going with that. "The funneral was night. I... I wanted to be there. Willow went and got Angel - but the ceremony was already over when he got here. I - I found this book that talked about turning the already-dead. It could be done. So we did it. But first, Will told us you were in fireland somewhere, so she and Tara went and got you out of that. Actually, we got caught gravedigging too."
"Caught? There's never anyone in the graveyards at night but the vampires." Buffy exclaimed.
"Yeah, well there was tonight. And he's... he's dead now. He went phyco, shot me and Xander." Spike didn't like having to say this to the one person he loved more than anyone else. He didn't exactally fancy the idea of telling her he'd commited a murder. "I kinda... I smashed his head with a shovel. It really was the only way... And Will healed Xander. So, we turned you, and Will gave back your soul. That's about it. She was supposed to have one for me - but I guess she didn't feel like it."
Buffy almost looked sypathetic, and it scared Spike.
"You guys went to all that trouble for me?" She asked, almost crying. Happy crying. It wasn't sypathy - it was happiness.
Spike shrugged, "I guess so."
Buffy walked over to where Spike was standing and leaned agasit the wall right next to him. "Thank you."
"No problem, luv."
"No, I mean it. A lot. Thank you." She insisted.
"Like I said, no problem. It's not like being a fucking vampire was exactally something you wanted." He added, sarcastically.
"No." She put simply. "But I did want to be back. With you."
Spike actually shot away from her for a second, and let out a big "Huh?"
Buffy let out a little laugh. "I did a little thinking. You know, as I was burning in this hellish place Tara took me out of. I was there for a few straight days - even with the pain, I still got thoughts out. I figured out I was wrong, you can love without a soul."
"Oh?" Spike wanted to hear what else she had to say.
"And I also figured out that you defiently didn't deserve to be the treated the way we - I, treated you." Buffy didn't really need to say anything more.
Instead, she just leaned over and kissed him deeply and passionately.
Rather than kissing back, what he despretly wanted to do, Spike just pulled away from her. "Stop playing with my head like that, dammit!"
Buffy looked embarressed. "I'm not playing, Spike..."
Spike wasn't really sure if he should believe her or not. It didn't seem like her kind of humor. Still, being dead for a few days sure can change a person.
He decieded not to bother with that, becuase she was standing there. Serious. (Hopefully)
This time, it was Spike to lean over towards Buffy and kiss her. He put his hand on her left arm, and could felt it, on her lips and her arm, that she was serious.
They stood there like that, for a few minutes, when Buffy pushed Spike over onto the bed and started to unbuckle his belt.
Just as she did, Spike jumped back up and stood against the wall for a second before saying anything. "Promise me something, alright? If at the same tommorow, you still wanna do this, I will. But it's a lot better for the both of us if you're not regreting it like hell in in a few hours, ok? Just promise me you'll think it over before you fuck anything up."
Buffy was really surprised by that. A lot. "Spike, I think I know what-"
"Look, not an option, ok? I'm going downstairs. Goodnight, luv." Spike couldn't believe it himself. He was passing up some free sex. But he knew he was doing something right. He hadn't been able to say that in a while. And downstairs he went.
Buffy sat there on the place where she'd sleep. She felt like she should have been embaressed, but wasn't. She just laid back and went to sleep, since there was nothing to think over. She loved Spike.