Part Nine

"Spike?" she asked weakly.

He nodded solemnly, "Yeah, it's me, luv."

She took a small hesitant step towards him. Encouraged, Spike took a step towards her. His heart almost sang when she didn't step backwards. Maybe he still had a change. Maybe...

"Where have you been?" she asked.

He continued to make his way toward her, "I had to leave after... I c-couldn't stay. Not after what I tried to do."

He was now close enough to see his bite mark. And, suddenly, he felt sick and he wasn't sure he could do this. He looked around helplessly, avoiding her eyes, "I should go. You don't need this. I...I never should have come back."

He tried to leave, but Buffy grabbed his arm, preventing him from doing so, "Spike, please."

He looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Spike, I don't want you to go."

"Why? Buffy, I tried to make you a midnight snack."

They both wince involuntarily at his description of the event. He ran a hand across her cheek tenderly, "Buffy, I love you so much. And I don't know if I can take this risk that I might hurt you again."

"But I want to. I wan to take that risk. I love you too much to just let you leave. I won't let you."

"How can you? I'm a vampire, love. And now, I don't have some chip in my head to keep me from hurting you. What I have is a demon under the surface, screaming for blood. Human blood. And I can't promise I'll be strong enough to resist it. If it's not you, it could be any of your friends, a stray victim on the street corner. Or *Dawn.* You may be willing to risk it, but I'm not."

"But isn't love one big risk?"

He almost laughed. She suddenly reminded him of Lorne and his big speech that finally convinced him to go back to Sunnydale in the first place.

"...because I want to risk it with you. I believe you're worth the risk. And-"

"You're right," Spike said.

She looked at him, seriously, "Of course, I'm right. I'm always ri-"

He cut her off with a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer. She went willingly, entangling her fingers in his platinum locks. Encouraged, Spike deepened the kiss, causing her to moan.

A few minutes later, they were interrupted.

"Don't you two ever come up for air?" a chuckling voice asked.

They broke apart instantly, both spinning towards the voice.

Another chuckle, "Oh, I see I'm mistaken. You do."

Buffy dropped into her defensive stance and Spike laughed.

"Relax, pet, it's just Lorne. And, anyway, you should be thanking him; he's the one that talked me into coming back."

"He's right about that one," Lorne said.

Buffy relaxed and turned to Spike, "You weren't going to come home?"

Great job, Spike chided himself, it's always a good thing to piss her off right after we made up...but, we'll just have to make up again...and that's always fun...oops, don't stray too far. He looked at Lorne, silently asking for his help. And he did.

"Now, now, kitten, let's not attack him. I'm sure he planned on returning. Am I right, Cheekbones?"

Or not.

Spike looked between the two of them, "Well, uh, of-of course-"

Buffy smiled, "Calm down, Spike, we're just funning ya."

She leaned in and kissed him again. She ended the kiss much too soon for his liking.

Buffy looked at Lorne, "So, you talked him into coming back, huh?"

"You betcha," he smiled.

She interlaced her arm with his and led him to her back door, "So, you've got to let me know how you convinced him, because I can't even convince him to wear something other than black."

Lorne laughed, "well, it wasn't easy..."

Spike chuckled and followed them into the house.

Everything was going to be fine.

The End (Finally!)

Author's Notes: Well...that didn't go the way I originally intended. *shrugs* Oh, well.

Okay, let's see. First, I want to say how sorry I am that it took sooooooo long to finish this. But I have a VERY good explanation for that (actually several). School started. Marching season started (YEA! for us getting straight 1's from all three judges yesterday! :D ). My dog suffered from a herniated disk in his back and there was this whole thing where the vets weren't sure he'd recover from the surgery and regain the use of his legs. But, luckily, he did and now he's almost 100% again. :) So, yea, for that. And, quite frankly, I was just not getting into writing this. Personally, it wasn't one of my more fun stories to write. *shrugs* Oh, well...all that matters is that it's finally finished.

Also, if anyone is actually reading "The Fox and the Hound," I'm still writing it. But, just expect a completely different story than the one currently posted now. I'm doing a total revamp. Hehe, get it, "reVAMP". *sounds of crickets* O-kay, never mind. Anyway, it's no longer going to be a strict past fic. It'll be during Season Seven. Holmes and Dr. Watson are no longer involved in it; there will be different characters filling in their parts...

And, finally, since school's started and I'm a senior and I'm focusing on getting ready for college, don't expect regular posts from me. They'll be very sporadic.