Chapter 27/Epilogue - Ever After

"Hi, is Spike around?" Buffy asked Jessica as she opened the front door.

"William!" the woman bellowed up the stairs as Buffy shifted uncomfortably on the doorstep. She had a feeling Jessica did not approve of her secrecy where her mother was concerned, that and Spike's own secrecy that was linked to her.

"Oh, hi" aforementioned bleach blond smiled at the girl beyond the door.

"Hey" Buffy smiled back "I was gonna patrol now and I thought...?" she trailed off realising Jessica still stood there, beside her son, not looking completely happy.

"Mum?" Spike looked on his mother with pleading eyes, and after a moment of awful silence and anticipation, the future Mrs Giles caved in.

"Go" she said simply "just be careful, okay?"

"I promise" Spike said with a smile, grabbing jacket and getting out of the door, with Buffy, in two seconds flat.

The walk back to the cemetery was quiet as both the Slayer and her boyfriend had much to think about and neither was sure what to say about the evenings events so far. Deep in thoughts, Buffy was almost unaware that she was giggling.

"What's so funny, Slayer?" Spike wanted to know, and she couldn't help herself.

"Other than your middle name being Rupert?" she smiled, causing him to duck his head in embarrassment - hardly a fitting name for a guy who fancied himself to be bad.

"Oh, you noticed that" he said quietly.

"Yeah" Buffy nodded and desperately tried to hold in a further fit of giggles.

"I see now why I have it" Spike realised "never made sense before, poncy name" he grumbled and the Slayer laughed more.

"It's not that funny" the bleach blond complained, secretly stifling a laugh himself.

"Oh, I'm not laughing at you anymore" Buffy assured him "I was just thinking, well, I never thought things would turn out this way" she explained as they reached the gates of the graveyard, she turned to face him.

"What way is that, pet?" he wondered aloud.

"Well, Cordelia moved away and I was so depressed cos she was like my best friend ever" Buffy told him "but here I am, little over one month later and I'm the complete opposite of depressed-girl, I'm like totally-happy-girl" she grinned, before listing all the wonderments in her life "Giles has a fiancee and a son, which is all kind of miraculous, then there's Willow and Xander who have finally got it together, Mom and Dawn know about the whole Slayer deal so no more lies which is cool and..." she smiled with some mischief "I'm dating possibly the greatest guy in the whole world"

"Really?" Spike smirked with satisfaction "that last part?"

"No, not really" Buffy admitted with a straight face, watching his own face drop dramatically "I didn't mean to say 'possibly', I meant to say 'definitely'" she covered with a smile, of course that was what she'd meant to say all along, she loved to wind him up.

"You're a vixen, Slayer" Spike told her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close, his voice dropping as he continued "but I'm completely in love with you - did I mention that?"

"I think you did" Buffy told him, her smile never wavering "but maybe you should tell me again just to be sure"

He smiled too at that.

"I love you Buffy" he said as seriously as ever, looking right into her eyes.

"I love you too Spike" she breathed, hoping against hope that no vampires jumped out of the bushes right now, as the couples lips came together in a passionate kiss.

When they finally came up for air, Buffy was still smiling.

"Y'know with all the weird stuff in my life" she sighed "and I still manage to end up living a cliché"

"What cliché's that, luv?" he asked , still holding her close in his arms and looking into her hazel eyes.

"Falling for the guy next door" she told him, causing a smile on his face as wide as hers.

"Oh, that" he said, his crystal blue eyes dancing "I happen to think that's a very nice cliché, as clichés go" he told her.

"Yeah" she sighed contentedly again "I always like the part where they live happily ever after"

"And so will we, pet" he assured her with a squeeze.

"How do you know that?" she wanted to know, it was beautiful but could it really be true? That she, the Slayer, could live happily ever after with this wonderful man?

Spike looked thoughtfully at the moonlit sky for a moment, and then he smiled once more.

"I don't know it" he said simply, looking back into her face, "I feel it. Don't you?"

"Yeah" she replied with a small nod, a smile spreading over her own lips, "Yeah, I think I do"

~~ THE END ~~

A/N : Hope everyone liked the end, you could always let me know what you thought by leaving a review (subtle hint) ;-)

I'll be back soon with a new Spuffy story...possibly more than one actually...