A/N : It's taken over twenty chapters, almost 50000 words, and over two months of writing and posting, but finally, here is the happy Spuffy ending that you've all been waiting for! Thanx so much to everyone who has read and reviewed the past twenty three chapters, you so deserve this happy chapter, after putting up with the angst sadness and god knows how much crying in the last twenty three! Let's keep with tradition, and I'll thank everyone who reviewed chapter 23 individually; Spikes Bint, Azrielle, Southern Rain, tinkerbell42, Chofita, spikewuvsbuffy, bheryandcherry, Lunar Faerie, SpIkEs AnGeL, RoboShiflo, SweetBitter, SlayerGirl1 - you guys rock! Enjoy the final chapter, I loved writing this story, especially this ending...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 24 - Life Is Too Short

Anyone who saw Spike riding his motorbike from Xander's apartment to his own would surely have thought of the song Bat Out Of Hell as he tore up the road at an alarming speed. He needed to talk to Buffy, mostly just needed to be near her. When Willow had told him that the girl of his dreams must indeed be in love with him now, he'd hardly believed it, but he was starting to believe it and he so wanted it to be true. He had to know for sure and as soon as possible. The more time he was given to be glad about it, the worse his heart would break if it turned out to be untrue.

The bike's tyres screeched as Spike slammed on the brakes and very nearly hit the front of a stationary car as he pulled up outside the apartment block. The car belonged to a certain Mr Harris who was just about to get into said vehicle.

"Spike!" Xander called, as his friend dismounted and took off his helmet, but the bleach blond didn't stop to talk or even apologise, he just kept hurrying towards the doors of the building.

"Thanks mate, for everything" he called back to Xander as he went and Xander couldn't help but laugh at his behaviour, Spike never got like this about anything.

"No problem!" the brunette called back, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he added, unsure as to whether his friend had heard him, but not worrying about it either way, he had his own girl to get back too.

The elevator had just departed as Spike reached the doors, so he took the stairs, two and three at a time, til he reached his own apartment. Once he was there, faced by the door of his own home, the door that stood between him and Buffy and possibly his entire future, all his excitement and confidence dissipated, leaving him with only nerves and panic for company.

Breathing deeply until he was no longer gasping for air, Spike took his keys from his pocket and let himself into the apartment. Buffy was sitting on the sofa, looking mostly at the floor until he came in. Her eyes immediately darted up and caught his and she smiled slightly as she greeted him.

"Hey"

"Hey, yourself" he smiled slightly as he answered, came inside, closed the door behind him and turned around to face her again. She was on her feet by now, just a yard or so of grey carpet between them. Silence reigned and their looks turned serious for a moment.

"I'm sorry" they said in perfect unison, breaking the silence and causing them both to smile again.

Spike was about to open his mouth to say something else when Buffy spoke instead.

"Look, I have a lot of stuff I think I need to say" she told him, trying her best to look him in the eye but finding it very daunting all of a sudden "so I'm just going to say it and I'd appreciate it a lot if you'd just let me say it all before you said anything back, okay?"

Not knowing what he wanted to say yet anyway, Spike simply nodded and waited to hear what Buffy had to say to him. With a deep breath she finally managed to look him directly in the eye as the words she said came straight from her heart.

"I've done quite a few things I'm not proud of lately, but the stupidest thing I did wasn't staying with Angel and, before you say it, it wasn't spending that night with you. The most stupid thing I ever did was lie to my best friend. I swore I would never do that, Spike, but the last few weeks I've been living a lie, denying feelings that I was afraid of, but when I got that letter, I realised life's too short to be scared by what might happen ...Spike, I love you, you know that, but what you maybe don't realise is that I'm in love with you and I have been for a while now..." she trailed off, tears glistening in her eyes and she noticed they were in his too. There was complete silence and it was slowly deafening Buffy.

"Spike, please, say something" she begged, but he still didn't say a word. Instead he covered the ground between the two of them in less than two strides, and before Buffy knew what was happening, his lips were on hers. The girl was shocked but so completely in heaven that the surprise of it barely registered on the scale as Spike kissed her and she kissed him back in equal measure until oxygen finally became an issue quite a while later.

"Wow" she accidently said aloud as she tried to get her breath back and her head only swam faster when Spike began to speak.

"Elizabeth Anne Summers, I love you more than life itself" he told her honestly, his arms still around her waist where they had gone during the kiss "I'm so deeply in love that it's killing me, but right now I don't care if it does, because I'd die a happy man just knowing you feel the same"

"I do, William" Buffy replied, finally able to breathe correctly "I truly do. I only wish I'd have realised sooner..."

Spike interrupted her with a shake of his head.

"That doesn't matter now" he told her, his grip tightening on her body like he never wanted to let go, well, he didn't "what matters is that we both realise what we have now, and we're never going to let it go" the last few words were barely a whisper before he claimed her lips again. Her arms wound around his neck and pulled him closer to her, but they could never get close enough this way. As hands began to roam, Spike manoeuvred them towards the bedroom door, but Buffy pulled away.

"No" she gasped for air so she could speak.

"What?" Spike asked worriedly, he thought she wanted the same thing he did, it certainly felt like she did.

"Hold that thought" Buffy smiled, assuring him he had no need to worry as she slipped out of arms and hurried to the stereo. He watched, confused as hell, as she selected a CD and put it on, one of her discs he noticed that she'd had him bring over for her.

"What are you doing?" he had to ask, although the answer to that question was fairly obvious, he was intrigued to know why she was putting on music at a time like this.

"You think I didn't hear you?" she smirked as a familiar song filled the room and Spike just looked as his feet, as he realised she'd heard him sing to her yesterday, the little minx hadn't been asleep at all. Buffy herself realised it was not often she saw Spike blush, but he looked even more cute when he did, if that were possible.

"When this happens for the first time" Buffy said shyly as she came back into his embrace "I want it to be special...perfect"

"Buffy, luv, you do remember we had sex before, right?" Spike frowned a little and she couldn't help but giggle at his strange expression.

"Yes, we did" she admitted, before turning very serious all of a sudden "but this time we're going to make love"

He knew precisely what she meant by that as he kissed her again, before she led him into the bedroom. It wasn't about sex, it was about so much more than that. It wasn't just the joining of two bodies, but the joining of two hearts and two souls. It was more magical than either of them had ever experienced before, even with each other, because this time, they knew they loved each other so much, and that if the whole world ended tomorrow, that fact would always be true.

~~~THE END~~~

A/N2 : Well, what's the verdict? You like it? Final reviews are very welcome.

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Coming Soon to a Fanfiction.net page near you! - New Fics by Ultrawoman!

'Trouble With Boys' - the long awaited sequel to 'The Guy Next Door'

and

'One Wild Night' - a brand new Spuffy Fantasy-fic