Chapter One:



Time seemed to move in slow motion. From the time Buffy Summers had arrived at her former lover's mansion. He was planning on bringing forth the demon Acathla and sucking the world into hell. It was just your typical Tuesday night in Sunnydale. She knew she had to stop Angel at all costs. Nine out of ten she was going to have to kill him. A fact that she was still dealing with. . After all, he had been spending the last several hours torturing her Watcher. His head-case of a girlfriend, Drusilla had killed Kendra, the other Slayer. Not to mention the fact that his minions had attacked her friends. What they didn't know about was that there was a traitor in there midst. Spike, Buffy's one times sworn enemy was actually on her side. It had been a very weird day.

Buffy the upper hand of the fight. She had pushed Angel in front of Acathla and was preparing to ram the sword through him when a jolt of almost like electricity went through him. Causing him to double over in pain and tears to form in his eyes. "Buffy?" he asked. "Where am I, what's going on?"

'He's cured. Willow did it.' Buffy thought.' Tears began to run down Buffy's cheeks. "Angel?"

"I feel like I haven't seen you in months." he pulled Buffy in for a hug and kiss. After a few minutes Buffy pulled away. Her tears where falling even more freely.

"Close your eyes." Angel did so. "I love you." Buffy said before ramming the sword through him.

"Buffy?" He looked at her through hurt, and confused eyes. He reached out for her before being swallowed into the vortex.

Buffy collapsed on the floor and began to sob loudly. Spike had just locked an unconscious Drusilla into one of the many room. He walked up behind Buffy and kneeled down behind her. He gently ran his fingers down her spin hesitating before pulling her into a comforting embrace. He didn't know why the Slayer was affecting him the way she was, but all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be alright. He knew that it wouldn't, he knew that everything was far from alright. It was breaking his unbeating heart to see her hurting this way. "There's nothing you could do pet, it's the way it had to be." Spike said running his fingers through Buffy's tangled hair.

"Drusilla?" she asked.

"Didn't work out how I had it planned. She's locked in one of the bedrooms, unconscious. It's for the best, been with the crazy bint for over a century, and she spent the whole time comparing me to Angel. It get's a little old after a while." Spike explained.

"I have to go," Buffy said standing up. "I have to get out of town, I can't stay here anymore." Buffy began to walk for the exit.

"I don't have anything worth staying here for. I say we leave together." Spike suggested.

"That's okay." Buffy said.

"Pet, you don't need to go by yourself. Your too distraught, someone could take advantage of you." he protested.

"Alright." Buffy finally agreed, as the made their way to Spike's Desoto.

They stopped by Buffy's house, lucky her mom was gone. She packed her bags, left her mom a note, and then she and Spike left.

As they turned on the interstate, Spike looked over at Buffy and asked, "Where to luv?"

"Anywhere but here." Buffy needlessly put on a pair of sunglasses to cover her blood shot, tear stained eyes.

Three Months Later

That's how Buffy left things in Sunnydale, nobody knowing where she was or where she had went to. Three months in L.A. with out worrying about slaying or apocalypse was what she needed. Now that she was coming home, she was worried about one thing, and that was how her friends and her mother would react when the found out that Spike was now her boyfriend. Something that she was about to experience first hand. She and Spike were now driving through Sunnydale.

Slowly Spike turned on to Revello Drive and then into the driveway of house 1630. After letting the car idle a bit he finally shut of the engine. "I'll let you go it alone. It'll be better if you talk to your mom. Tell her about where you have been, tell her about us. It will better if I don't go in there with you, with out her knowing." Spike said.

"I know, I was going to ask you to go ahead and go." Buffy replied.

"Well, I'm gonna go sweetheart." Spike said playing with a piece of her hair.

"Love you Spike." Buffy smiled.

"Love you too." Spike kissed her softly before she got out and grabbed her bags from the back seat.

Buffy made her way to the front porch, she turned back one more time watching Spike slowly back down the drive way. She set her bags down, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. A few minutes later the door opened. Tears streaked her mother's face when she saw her run away daughter standing their. "I've missed you so much." Joyce cried.

"I've missed you too mom." Buffy said as Joyce pulled Buffy into a hug.

After a few minutes, the older Summers said, "Where did you go?"

"Um, I was in L.A." Buffy said bringing her three large duffel bags into the foruir of the house. "Had the whole waitress gig, an apartment that was on the not so nice part of the city with high rent. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it honey?" Joyce asked concerned that there was something wrong with her daughter.

"When I was in L.A. I wasn't alone." Buffy began.

"That boy, Angel, he was with you wasn't he?" Joyce asked.

"No, Angels, I had to, he's dead." Buffy stammered.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry." Joyce said.

"No mom, it's okay. I'm over it." Buffy said. "I was in L.A. with Spike. He took care of me when I couldn't take care of myself. He's my boyfriend Mom."

"He is." Buffy hear the distaste in her mother's voice as well as seeing it in her eyes.

"I know that your afraid that he'll turn out like Angel. Spike's different, he didn't have to be cursed with a soul to turn good. He did it on his own. If he wanted to kill me, he could have, he had many chances to and he didn't. Believe me, there were a few times I begged him to and he didn't. I love him Mom, more than I ever did Angel. That's the reason I'm telling you about him."

"I appreciate you being honest with me Buffy. I want to be honest with you. This is going to be hard on me excepting how your life is. I mean while you were gone, Mr. Giles helped explain a lot of it. Your going to have to give me time. I want to try to be a part of this." Joyce told her daugther.

"I know it's hard to except, and it doesn't make things any easier with me adding Spike into the mix. I didn't plan on that happening, it just did. I was in love with him before I could even stop it. I even think that I was in love with him before I even left Sunnydale." Buffy explained.

"You don't have to justify yourself, or your feelings for Spike to me Buffy."How about I got fix some dinner, you can go, unpack."

"Yeah, it's funny, I've came back with more things than I left with." Buffy picked up her bags and quickly made her way to her room.

Once she had unpacked, Buffy headed down to the kitchen. Setting on the counter was a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese. After eating Buffy headed back up to her bed room and set down on her bed. After a few minutes she slipped on one of her sweat shirt jackets and walked out of her bed room. She could hear a pounding noise coming from her mother's room. Buffy peeked her head in to see her mom driving a nail in the wall. "Hey mom." Buffy called.

Startled, Joyce missed the nail and put a large hole in the sheet rock. "Oh, Buffy, you startled me." Joyce hung a very ugly mask over the hole.

"Nice mask." Buffy said sarcastically.

"Isn't it lovely? It's Nigerian, we got a shipment in at the gallery, I thought I would hang a few pieces in here to cheer up the room." Joyce explained.

"Mom, it's angry at the room. It wants the room to suffer." Buffy said.

"Are you going somewhere?" Joyce gestured to her daughters jacket.

"I figured I would go find Willow and Xander. If that's okay."

"Go ahead." Joyce said. "Will you be slaying?"

"Okay if they give me lip." Buffy replied.

"Have a good time honey."

Buffy smiled as she walked out of her mom's room and down stairs. "Oh, Buffy." her mom called from the top of the stairs. "if you see Spike tell him that I expect to meet him properly." "Mom, you've meet Spike. Hell, you even hit him in the head with and ax." Buffy reminded her.

"That's the way this thing is going to work. It's weird enough that your a vampire slayer. You just got home from L.A. where you lived with someone, that someone who is a vampire and your new boyfriend. I'm still dealing and I insist on meeting him properly." Joyce explained. "We just have to take this whole thing slowly."

"Okay Mom, but no baby pictures. We aren't that far in our relationship." Buffy explained.

Buffy was walking down an ally by the Bronze. She had heard a noise, like the sound of a trash can being over turned. On the other side of the dumpster was a man, talk, dark haired, dressed in black. Approaching him quietly she grabbed hold of his jacket. The guy whirled around aiming a wooden stake for her heart.

Buffy caught the piece of wood on a downward swing, she then recognized his face. "Xander!" he only stared at her, not really sure of what to say. "Didn't anyone warn you about playing with wooden sticks. It's all fun and games 'til someone loses an eye."

Buffy still had a grip on the stake. "You shouldn't sneak up on people...Geez Buff." he stood up and hugged her.

During their little bit of catching up a vampire exploded from the Bronze. Xander grabbed it, he let go of it when Buffy kicked it in the side. Both of them started to stake it then they both stopped. "Oh, go ahead." Buffy told him.

"No, you-" Xander insisted.

"Come in Nighthawk, everything okay?" a voice came from a walkie talkie on Xander's belt.

"Nighthawk?" Buffy said dumbfounded. Xander began to fidget with the device on his belt as the vampire leaped for Buffy. She began to wrestle with it, 'Where's Spike when I need him?' Buffy thought as foot steps rang in her ears. Suddenly the vamp was ripped off of her by two more people-Cordelia and Willow.

The struggle to hold the thing against the wall was beginning the wear on the two girls. "Hello, dust time." Cordelia gasped.

Oz raced in, stake in hand with Xander. The girls were no match for the vampire's strength and soon found themselves being knocked aside by the vampire. It then charged after Buffy, who drove the stake home, dusting the vamp.

Buffy turned to her friends who were piled on the ground. "Uh, hey guys." Buffy said weakly.

"Buffy, your back." Willow got up and hugged her best friend.

"Have you seen Giles yet?" Xander asked.

"Not yet, I've only been back a few hours." Buffy explained.

That's how Buffy and everyone found themselves outside of Giles apparment. "Are you sure he's up?" Buffy asked.

"Of course, he's up, why wouldn't he be up?" Willow said."It's only 9:30."

Buffy took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Buffy could hear movement inside then the door flew open.

Giles didn't know what to say, or even do. "Check it out, The Watcher's back on the clock. And just when you were thinking career change, maybe a 'looker' or a 'seer'."

"Thank you, Xander." Giles said quitley still unsure of what to say. He didn't know if he should cry, or yell at her. Finally he said. "Welcome home Buffy." he then motioned the scoobies inside.

Everyone set in Giles' s living room chatting back and forth. "I got back a few hours ago, but I went to mom's first." Buffy explained.

"How are thins with her?" Giles asked.

"They are good, we did that whole cry thing. Then when did that whole catching up thing." Buffy said.

"That's good." Giles said getting up and putting on a pot of tea.

They chatted back and forth when the inevitable question came up as Giles came back with the tea. "So where were you this summer?" Xander asked.

"Maybe we should let Buffy get settled back in before we question her summer activities." Giles suggested.

"Actually, my summer activties was one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about. I'm prepared for maxy wig when I tell you this." Buffy took a deep breath. "After Angel was sucked into hell, Spike and I left together. We went to L.A. together, and we stayed there together."

"So, I'm sensing a lot of togetherness." Oz said.

"Yeah, there is a lot of togetherness. While in L.A., I some how I managed to fall in love with him." Buffy explained. "Spike's my boyfriend."

"Spike, bleached hair, vampire, who happens to not only be souless but also evil. Who's tried to kill you more times than I can count?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, same guy. He's changed Xand, you wouldn't believe it. I didn't plan to fall for him, not in a million years did I expect it. You don't choose who you fall for. I know that more now than ever."

"You know what I think is funny, your the vampire slayer. He's a vampire-" Cordelia began.

"We know this Cordy." Willow said.



"You could atlest let me finish. I had a point." Cordelia said sharply. "Buffy easily falls in love with vampires."

"Again Cordelia, your point would be?" Buffy asked.

"That your a vamp magnet." she finally finished.

"Thank you Cordy." Buffy said.

"Buffy, I know that your blinded by love, or what you think is love. Are your sure that Spike is not a threat to you?" Giles asked.

"I'm not blinded Giles and I'm not under thrawl or any kinda wiggy vampire mojo. I really do love Spike. Besides if he wanted me dead, he had plenty of chances to do so, and he didn't. Even if he wanted to kill me, why would he let me come back to Sunnydale? He would have killed me in L.A. Giles there were times when I begged him to and he didn't." Buffy said.

"Your quite right." Giles told her taking off his glasses and polishing them with the edge of his shirt.

"Um, Buffy are you sure about this? I mean after Angel and all." Oz asked.

"I'm sure Oz." Buffy nodded.

"Well, I don't like it." Xander threw in, even though he knew it didn't matter what he did or didn't like.

"Xander, it doesn't matter what you like." Willow told him. "If Buffy said he's good, I believe her. After what happened with Angel, I know that believe that she would put us in danger on purpose."

"Besides, Spike doesn't have a soul, so there can be no losing of the soul if there isn't one to lose." Oz added.

"Guys, I know this is hard for you all to except. I don't expect you to be cool with it right now. I know that it's gonna take time." Buffy said. "I'm just looking forward to getting on with my life again. You know, school, slaying, averting the apocalypse, you know regular kid stuff. In fact, I'm jonesing for a little brainless fun. What are you all doing tomorrow?"

"I'm sorta tied up tomorrow." Xander said.

"You wish." Cordelia smirked.

"What about you Will?" Buffy asked.

Willow quickly glanced at Oz then back to Buffy. "Tomorrow?" she asked. "I..."

"Please Wills, friends don't let friends brows alone."

"Okay, I guess I could do that thing later." Willow shrugged.

Giles cleared his throat. "As for school...Buffy you know you'll have to talk to Principal Snyder."

"Mom's making an appointment with 'His Ugliness' tomorrow." Buffy smiled confidently.

"It's not going to be easy, he's quite emphatic about a Buffy-free Sunnydale High."

"I'm bringing the Intimidator. One look at 'Mom-Face' and he'll break like an egg."

"I hope your right."

After chatting a while longer, Buffy excused herself and headed over to Crawford Street. Spike's car was parked outside of the mansion. She smiled as she walked to the front entrance. "Spike?" she called as she closed the door behind her.

"Yeah pet, I'm in here." Spike pocked his head out of one of the bedrooms.

Buffy walked threw a hallway that was lined with doors to different bedrooms. She smiled when seen Spike. "Hey baby." she smiled as he turned from his half empty duffel.

"So, how was everyone, your mum?" he asked setting on the bed and motioning her to join him.

"Mom had a big cry fest. We talked, I explained things about my life. Including you, she knows that your my boyfriend. Buffy explained.

"What did she say?" he asked, he was slightly nervous about what her mother had said. He wanted her approval more than he was willing to say. Her father on the other hand, he could give a rat's ass about.

"She's willing to except with one exception. She wants you to come by sometime, to talk." Buffy said.

"She's going to give me the third degree about dating her daughter, isn't she?" Buffy looked at him. "You know, I'm going to drive a wooden stake through your heart if you hurt my daughter, or I'm going to cut your head off if you hurt her?"

"Yeah, lots of that. She's pretty handy with an ax, but I guess you would remember that." Buffy laughed.

"I remember all to well pet. You know that I have no intentions of hurting you." Spike kissed her softly. "I love you too much to do that. "

"I love you too Spike." Buffy kissed him.

Spike knew that she loved him, that was something he was more than sure about. There was still a lot of emotions that she was holding about Angel. If there was one thing Buffy was good at, it was holding how she felt at bay. Since she had been hurt so bad by Angel, and her father, it was hard for her to open up to him. Sure, she had some, but not to the point Spike wanted her to be. He wanted all of her, all of her heart, all of her soul, because she was his. He didn't know what he would do if lost her. Maybe stake himself through the heart. He knew he couldn't live with out her.

"What about your friends?" Spike asked. He had to get his mind away from the touchy subject.

"Maxy wig from Xander and Giles, Cordelia called me a vamp magnet, Willow and Oz seemed fine about the whole thing. Infact, Willow's suppose to meet me in town tomorrow for some wacky fun."

"I'm glad that things are good love. Your happiness is all that matters to me Buffy." Spike kissed her again.

"It's late, I have to head home. I don't want to push Mom the fist night I back in town."

"I'll walk you." Spike said sliding on his leather duster.

"Okay," Buffy smiled.



They walked to Buffy's house, hand in hand in silence. It was nice. It made Buffy think back to the first time they had walk. The night before Buffy had killed Angel. They had kept there eye intently on each other. Neither trusted each other, but that was the first time Buffy had noticed how beautiful Spike's eyes were. How attractive he was. It was at that moment she fell for him, and he for her. Ofcorse there had always been attraction there.

Buffy was slightly disappointed when she and Spike stepped on her porch. "Well, I guess this is it." Buffy said.

"Yeah, go get snug in your bed. I'm gonna make a sweep by the graveyard. I want you to get all settled in before you have to worry about slaying. I have you covered." Spike told her running his fingers over her hair.

"Okay, I need to go in." Buffy told him. "I love you."

"I love you too sweetheart." Spike kissed her.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Buffy said opening the door.

"I'll see you." Spike kissed before she slipped into the house.