A/N- Finally an update! I'm so sad to tell, though, that this might be the last chapter. *Gasp!* What? Yes! This story is finally reaching an end, my dear readers. But in compensation for that, it is a large, nice chapter. So please read. (And if you're nice, I might just put an epilogue)

"So, what are we watching first?"

Darren looked at the DVDs in his hands. "Well," he said, "we've got Batman, Coppola's Dracula and The Little Vampire. Er... do I see a patron here?"

Dawn shrugged. "I like vampires, so what?"

"Nothing," Darren said. "It's just... well, vampires are so depressive. And you're, well, not. You're so happy to be consider as the vampire kind of girl... or at least used to be."

Dawn smiled at the irony. "I don't think vampires are depressive. I think they're... cool." Then she smirked. "An in the case of Antonio Banderas, just plain hot."

Darren smiled too. "I dunno, Dawn. I have to disagree with you; I think Brad Pitt's hotter." But his smile faded a second later to be replaced with a frown. "Dawn, are you okay?"

Dawn looked at him, surprised with the sudden change of subject. "Yeah. Just fine." She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I dunno. It's just --it's not like you to stay home in a Friday night to watch movies."

Dawn shrugged. "Well, it's not like I'm doing it alone. Besides, what's wrong with staying in one Friday night?"

"Nothing. It just makes me wonder if it has anything to do with-" But Darren never go to finish that sentence; a glare from Dawn was enough to shut him up.

"That's not the reason, Darren."

They were quiet for a moment, while Darren put the movie on. Then he turned to look at her. "Er... Dawn? You do know that you'll have to talk to them, don't you? I mean, eventually."

Dawn sighed. "Yeah... I do. But it won't be tonight if I can help it."

"I just don't understand why you do this. I mean, everybody knows that Spike's the one you want --everyone but Spike, that is." He sighed. "And maybe Connor, although I think he might have an idea."

"It's not that simple, Darren," Dawn said, annoyed.

"Why not? It's as simple as telling Spike that you want him, and telling Connor that you don't want him."

"His dad's paying for my studies. I can't just ditch him; I feel like I'm obligated or something."

"Obligated?! Dawn, come on! Angel started paying this school after you left LA and broke up with his son!"

"I know! It's just, I still don't wanna hurt Connor. I mean, we might not be together, but I do care for him a lot --he was a big part of my life."

"Okay, so let me see if I get this straight," he said. "You won't tell Spike and Connor how you feel 'cause you don't wanna hurt Connor, but instead you'll end up hurting them both, not to mention yourself? Sounds like a really smart plan to me," he said, sarcastically.

"You think I'm being an idiot?"

"No, Dawn. Idiot was when you liked Spike and you didn't make a move on him. This --this is double-idiot."

"Well, thank you, Darren," she said, angrily. "That makes me feel so much better."

"You asked my opinion, Dawn," he answered, in the same tone. "And, as your friend I think it was about time I told you what I think. You're making a huge deal out of nothing." Dawn opened her mouth to protest, but Darren wouldn't have any of it. "No, Dawn! You're just too damn scared to admit that you might actually have fallen in love again to do something. And I don't think it's fair. Not for Spike, nor Connor. And not for you." Then he grinned. "And certainly not for me."

Dawn, who had started growing angrier, suddenly snorted. "You?" she said, surprised. "What does it have to do with you?"

"Well, I'm your best friend, aren't I?" he said, shrugging casually. "I'm the one who gets to hear all your moaning and weeping when the answer is so damn obvious everybody else gets to see it."

"I don't weep!" Dawn said, indignantly. Darren raised an eyebrow. "I don't! Maybe I... er, complain a little, but I definitely don't weep!"

"Yeah, right." Dawn opened her mouth to protest, but Darren shushed her with a finger. "Listen, Dawn. I won't bug you anymore. Just promise me that you'll talk to them, okay?"

"Darren..."

"Just --think about it?"

"Yeah, alright. It'll have to be tomorrow, though. I've to work, and they surely will be at the club. Besides, all I wanna do right now is to see how somebody gets their blood sucked out while I eat a lot of popcorn."

Darren made a disgusted face. "Ew. Dawn, that's gross."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Now, don't get all gay on me."

*-*-*

It was really lucky that Ernie knew him by now, Spike thought. Then he smirked, thinking that maybe Ernie wouldn't recognize Connor and the bloke would have to wait in the front line until that annoying dude decided to get him in.

That thought made him feel a little better, and he walked in with a small smile on his face.

A small smile that faded the instant he walked in. For there, sitting on the bar, was Connor.

He groaned, and headed for the spot as far as from him as he could find.

He ordered a beer and lightened a smoke, scanning the place in case the brunette girl was somewhere near.

He was surprised, though, that after fifteen minutes or so he hadn't seen her at all. He waited another fifteen minutes, but after half an hour of just sitting there (well, not exactly sitting, if you counted the numerous girls that had come onto him), he was getting frustrated --not to mention bored.

He was standing to leave, when suddenly his vampire ear caught a giggle --a giggle he could've sworn he had heard before. Not Dawn's. Not in a million years he would confuse Dawn's laugh with someone else's.

He turned his head, and saw that red-head friend of Dawn's -Alicia. She was dancing with that blonde guy; Spike had only seen him at that party when he had found out about Dawn and Connor. He shook his head, trying to forget that.

He stood up and headed for the couple. He hesitated in mid-way, wondering if it wouldn't be rude or something to interrupt like that. He shook his head. Dawn was more important, and besides, Connor was there.

He stood beside them awkwardly. Then cleared his throat, but it couldn't be heard over the sound of the music. He tried once again, a little bit louder.

This time he got their attention.

Josh turned to look at him, annoyed. Obviously, he hadn't recognized him.

"Can I help you with something, buddy?" he said.

Alicia turned to look at them, worried they would start fighting. She did, however, recognized Spike. She turned a little pale.

"Spike," she said.

Josh's eyes widened. "Spike?" he asked. "As in Dawn's, er, friend?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Alicia answered him. Then she turned to face Spike. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Dawn."

Alicia and Josh exchanged a look. "She didn't come."

"She stayed home watching some movies with Darren," Josh said.

Spike found that hard to believe. Dawn staying home? Yeah, right. "Listen, if you don't want me to see her-"

"No. It's true. She didn't come."

"She said something about movie-night, and staying in, and how she always goes out and works here... stuff like that," Josh said quickly.

Alicia sighed. "Listen, Spike," she said, as if she had just decided something. "The truth is, I think she was avoiding you."

"Avoiding me?"

"Yeah, you... and Connor," she said.

"Oh," Spike said. "I... I guess... bloody hell. I'll go then."

He turned to leave. What was the point of being here, anyway?

"Spike," she heard Alicia say. He stopped walking, but didn't turned around to face her. "Go find her. Go talk to her. She wants you." Spike closed his eyes. "Haven't you noticed? Spike, she's in love with you."

That made Spike's jaw fall, and he finally looked at the girl again. She looked desperate, anxious and somehow guilty. Josh just looked like he'd rather be somewhere else.

"What?" he tried to say. But no sound came out of his mouth. Alicia seemed to understand his look, though.

"She loves you, Spike. I... I probably shouldn't have told you this, but I think... I think you ought to know."

"So she didn't tell you, then?" Spike asked, finally finding his voice.

Josh snorted. Alicia glared at him, and then turned to Spike again. "No, of course not. She'd never admit it. Not to me, anyway. Darren probably, but not me," she said, somehow resentful.

"Alicia," Josh said, carefully. "You're...er, getting off the subject."

Alicia glared at him for an instant, before turning her attention back to Spike with a sweet look. "Spike, just --just talk to her, will you?" she said, in a somewhat desperate voice.

Spike didn't know what to say. He was shocked by this revelation; overwhelmed. He was so full of joy, but he couldn't start believing it yet.

He opened his mouth before any sound actually came of it. "I... I'll... I guess I will see her tomorrow."

Alicia exchanged another look with Josh. "I think it's better if you do it tonight," Josh said.

"It's just --well, Connor was here before. I reckon he's headed for the dorm now."

Spike looked around in panic. They were right; Connor was no longer in there. He muttered a quick "Thanks" to Alicia and nodded to Josh, before quickly walking out of the club.

Now that he knew how Dawn felt, there was no bloody way he was letting her go.

*-*-*

"Oh, my God. He's so cute and so sweet. When I have kids, I want my son to look just like that boy."

"Which one?" Darren asked, staring at the TV. Their vampire-movies marathon was coming to an end. The last movie of the night was The Little Vampire. "The one with the glasses or the vampire?"

Dawn looked at him as if he was crazy. "The vampire, of course."

Darren shrugged. "How was I to know, Dawn? I thought you liked blondes."

Dawn glared at him. "Shut up." Then she smirked. "He's not a natural blonde."

"Oh! That explains it, then."

"Be quiet. And pass the popcorn."

Darren did what he was told, a smile playing in his lips.

A few more minutes in silence passed by. Then, suddenly, a knock on the door startled them.

"It's only 11. I don't think they're back already," said Dawn. "Besides, both Alicia and Lucy got key."

Darren shrugged. "Aren't you opening?"

Dawn stood up and went to open the door.

It was Connor.

She could almost hear Darren smirking. She turned to glare at him, but his smile just turned bigger.

"Hey," Connor said.

"Er, hi... What are you doing here?"

"Wanna talk to you," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Can I come in?"

"Uh... sure."

Darren stood up quickly. Almost too quickly. Dawn couldn't help glaring. "Um, I... I'll... I'll go make more popcorn... in the bedroom! Bye!" he said, before disappearing.

There was an awkward silence.

"Em.. do you wanna sit?" Dawn asked.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks. I... I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

Dawn shook her head. "We were just watching movies," she said, pointing at the DVD's laying on the floor.

Darren glanced at them, then raised an eyebrow at her. Dawn chose to ignore this.

"So, you said you wanted to talk?" she said, instead. "What about?"

"Us."

Dawn felt her stomach sink. "Oh."

"It's just... there's not going to be an us, is there?"

"Connor-"

"No, I get it. Just... tell me truth."

Dawn sighed. "Connor, look. It's not that I don't want to be with you. It's just that... I can't."

"It's Spike, right?"

"What?"

"You're in love with him."

Dawn stared at him in shock for a second, before nodding slowly. "But it's not because of him. Connor, what we had was so great. You were my first love, and I'll never forget you. But that was a long time ago."

Connor looked at the girl for a long time. Then he smiled sadly. "I guess I'll go then."

"Connor --please, don't be mad... I don't want you to be mad."

He looked sweetly at her. "How could I be mad at you, Dawn?"

He leaned down a kissed her quickly. "Good bye, Dawn."

He opened the door, but before he walked out he turned back at her. "Be sure to visit when you go to LA."

Dawn nodded, looking at the floor.

Then she heard Connor's voice saying: "You're a lucky guy, buddy."

Dawn's head snapped up. She was sure he wasn't calling her 'buddy' or 'guy'.

There, standing in the doorframe, was Spike.

He looked torn between confusion, anger and desperation. Connor smiled one last time at Dawn, before closing the door behind him --Spike was already inside.

"What was he bloody talking about?" Spike asked.

"Uh... hello to you, too," she said, awkwardly. She was having trouble finding her voice.

Spike didn't say hello back to her. He just looked at her. "What was he talking about, Dawn?" he said, seriously.

Dawn refused to answer that --not yet, anyway. "Why are you here, Spike?" she asked, instead, hoping to take the spotlight off of her.

Spike seemed taken aback for a moment, before he recovered quickly. "I ran into Alicia at the club," he said, simply.

Dawn closed her eyes tightly, before slapping a hand on her forehead. She didn't know what Alicia had told Spike, but it couldn't be good --Alicia had a big mouth.

"You did?"

Spike nodded.

"So...?" Dawn asked, not exactly sure of what to say.

Spike crossed his arms over his chest. "Let's just say we had... an interesting talk."

Dawn ran a hand through her hair. "Alicia has a big mouth," she whispered under her breath. Spike heard, nonetheless.

"Actually, I think she is quite informative."

"Really?" said, Dawn, vaguely.

"Yeah... Don't you wanna know what she told me, Dawn?"

Dawn crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know, Spike. Do I?"

"She told me that -somehow- you're not being honest with me, Dawn. Is it true?"

Dawn's stomach sunk. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, shrugging.

"Bloody hell, Dawn!" he yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "Stop doing this!"

"What is wrong with you?! Stop doing what?!"

"Stop avoiding me!"

"Avoiding you? I'm not avoiding you."

"Of course you bloody are. You're not going to the club, you're always busy when I try to find you, you were always with that stupid Connor dude-"

"That's not true!"

"And you are avoiding the subject here!"

"What subject? There's no subject here, Spike! You just keep babbling about Alicia and something she said and I haven't got a clue of what you're talking about!"

"I'm talking about us, Dawn," he said, softly --somehow defeated.

"Us?" she asked, surprise, dropping her voice.

"Yes, Dawn. Us. And before your bloody little ex came along, I thought that we were actually getting somewhere."

Dawn sighed heavily. "We were."

"So what happened? Peaches' boy comes along and everything goes to Hell?"

"No."

"So why are you seeing him?"

Dawn took a deep breath. "I'm not." Spike looked at her intently. "I told him I wouldn't."

"You -you did?"

Dawn nodded.

"Why?"

She smiled weakly. "I'm pretty sure Alicia told you."

Spike took a step closer to her. "So it's true? What she said, I mean."

Dawn smiled skeptically. "I can only assume that I know what she told you."

"Take a wild guess," Spike answer, grinning.

By this point they were just a few inches apart, and Dawn couldn't help it when the hairs in the back of her neck stood up every time she saw his chest rise up and down with a breathing that was so unnecessary for him --but he was used to it, nonetheless.

Slowly, Spike put an arm around her waist, while leaning down. Dawn closed her eyes, expectantly.

She felt his lips brush hers, and opened her mouth to deepen the kiss --but they were suddenly interrupted.

"Oh, my God! I'm so, so, so sorry!"

Dawn turned around to see Darren standing at the door of her room, grinning madly --and not looking a little bit sorry.

She glared at him, annoyed. "Darren, why don't you just disappear or something?"

He grinned at her and nodded, walking past them to the door.

"Hey, Dawn," he said, while opening it. "Looks like you didn't have to wait till tomorrow, huh?"

Dawn glared at him and blushed, but couldn't help smiling a little. "Shut up."

"Whatever you say, Dawnie."

She turned back to Spike, whom hadn't let go of her waist. "What was he talking about?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, putting an arm around his neck. "Now, where were we?"

Spike grinned, before closing the gap between them, kissing at last.

Dawn couldn't help the feeling of her heart jumping.

They were finally together.

A/N- It's over! It finally is! I can't believe it! So much time and dedication put into this fic, and now it's finished... Oh well...

But I just loved it so much, that I'm promising an epilogue... and I'm hoping it's gonna be a good one. So wait for it!

Meanwhile, please review! (See how I emphasize the word please? I'm so polite... that's gotta mean something). Let me know what you think of this chapter.

And to all of you who've reviewed and read along... thanks!!!!!!!