AN: Greetings loyal Spuffyists! I'm kind of hyper right now…partly because I had a nummy nummy cappuccino…partly because I'm going mad from all of my homework (having flu=tons of makeup work, don't try it)….partly because I'm just in a super hyper mood. :) And I'm listening to my new CD. Which always puts me in a good mood. Especially when it's AFI. Not nearly as good as GOTR, but still….

Random horrifying fact of the day: As I was paging through a magazine, I came across a random Buffy article, in which it proclaimed that a certain fake-blonde we all know and love is 39 years old. Please, someone, tell me it isn't true! :) Oh well. Even if it is true, I'll still love him. All 39 years of him. In a strictly non-stalker, non-perverted sort of way, of course.

I'm probably driving you all nuts. Sowwy. I'll go away now. Oh yeah, before I forget…I think I will write that lil' snippet, since some of you seem interested. If I don't get it done this weekend I'll try writing it during the week, and it'll be ch. 2.5. In the meantime… Read, review and enjoy! And thanks again for all the great reviews!

Disclaimer: All characters (w/exceptions) belong to UPN, Mutant Enemy, and the all-powerful Joss.

Different

"Buffy?"

            "Maim?"

            Buffy looked back and forth between the man by her side and the cab driver. "Um…yeah?"

            "I don't think I can go in there."

            "We're here, maim."

            Great. She sighed. "Thank you," she said to the driver. Then, she turned to Spike. "What do you mean, you can't go in there? It isn't like you need an invitation anymore, and if you did, you'd already have it…"

            He smiled. "Didn't mean it like that, luv." Squeezing her hand a bit tighter, he looked down. Their hands still looked… Hers was small, warm yet cool, soft yet incredibly strong. And it sat so peacefully in his. His freakishly pale, strangely warm, hand. "I'm…different."

            "Yeah?" A small frown surfaced on her face. "You're human. At least, you seem to be. They're going to love it."

            "They're going to want to know why."

            "So?"

            He looked up guiltily at her. "I just wanted you to know first, alright? Like I said before, it's a bloody long story and I can't just sit down and tell it to everyone."

            "Maim?"

            "Yes?" She leaned forward slightly so she could hear the driver's very soft, thickly accented voice better.

            "I said we are here, maim."

            Getting the hint, she reached for her purse.

            "Thank you, sir."

            Her eyes snapped up, to see Spike handing him a small bundle of bills. "Spike…"

            "My treat," he murmured, smirking. Still holding her hand rather possessively, he slid out of the car, waiting until she was standing beside him before daring to move. Had becoming human really turned him into this much of a ponce? He glanced over at her. No…you did that all on your own.

            Silently, they gathered their luggage from the truck of the cab, and watched it drive away into the distance. And then Buffy turned around, and stared in awe at her house, sitting there as if they had never left it. The lawn gnome sat firmly in place on the freshly mowed lawn, which had, by the looks of it, been watered very recently. The windows were clean, and the siding undented. Basically, it looked perfect. "Come on." With a grin she half-drug her companion up the driveway, onto the porch, and up to the door.
            "Buffy…"

            Pausing with her key against the doorknob, she tilted her head. "Hmm?" Before she had time to say anything else there was an arm around her waist, and a hand upon her own, helping to guide the key and bring them home.

            Spike pushed the door open. Glancing at Buffy, he took a step inside. "Hey. Scoobies? Bit?"

            "Hello?" Buffy walked into the living room, looking around curiously.

            "BUFFY!"

            From behind her, the Slayer was knocked off her feet by an overly-excited teenager. "Hey Dawnie." Groaning, she rolled over on to her back. "Glad to see me?"

            Standing up, Dawn grinned. However, her expression quickly turned to a scowl. "Bitch." Lightly she kicked her sister with the toe of her shoe.

            "Hey!"

            "You didn't call!"

            "I tried to, Dawn. The line was either busy or no one answered. But I did try."

            "She did, Bit."

            Dawn whirled around. "Spike!" She flung her arms around the uncomfortable blonde, happy once more.

            " 'lo." Squirming, he managed to loosen her grip so he could breathe again. Unfortunately, this meant forcing the girl from his windpipe and dangerously close to his ever-beating heart, which to him was pounding so loudly it was a wonder the entire town didn't hear it. She's going to notice something. In three…two…

            Thud-thump. Her eyes flew open. Jerking her head away from his chest as if it was scalding water, she blinked several times. "You changed." Her eyes flew up to meet his. "Your…different."

            Spike winced.

            "What happened?"

            "Buffy!"

            "You're back!"

            "Are you alright?"

            Buffy waited until she had properly hugged Willow, Giles and Xander before commenting. "We're good. We're better than good. We won!"

            "So I assumed," Giles said amusedly.

            "Spike?" Dawn's voice lowered slightly as her eyes bore into him. "What happened to you?"

            "Nothing, Bit," He hissed.

            Willow looked over at him, a slight smile on her face. "Hey Spike."

            "Something's different." Reaching out, Dawn placed her hand on Spike's chest.

            "Stop it!" Backing away as much as the crowded room would let him, he glared at the girl. But from the way she was looking at him, he knew she had felt what he was so desperately trying to hide.

            "You're… your heart." For once in her life, Dawn was speechless. Looking around helplessly, she finally settled on Buffy. "Buffy!"

            "Yeah?"

            "Spike!"

            Buffy looked over at him. If possible, he looked paler than he already was. Is that possible? She stepped towards him. Are you okay? "What about him?"

            'Are you okay?' His eyes widened slightly in complete bewilderment. Buffy?

            "He's…" Dawn struggled to express what she knew. "His heart. I think…I think it's beating."

            'Buffy?' Buffy smiled a little bit at her new discovery. Telepathic. Cool. Wait…

            "Beating?" Giles reached for his hankerchief.

            "Spike. He's…"

            Spike smirked a bit at the blonde in front of him. You can tell them.

            'You can tell them.' "Giles?" She waited until she had his attention. "Spike's kind of…alive."

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            "Bloody hell. I thought they'd never leave."

            Buffy laughed. "I had to promise Giles we'd start researching your "fabulous condition", to quote him, tomorrow."

            He winced. "Buggar that. Give the man a stethoscope, or some other medical thing. Doesn't take a genius to hear a heartbeat."

            "He seems to think it's…temporary." She sat down next to him on the bed, leaning slightly against his arm. "It isn't, is it?"

            Smiling, he shook his head. "No. I'm human until…well, I guess until I die again. Then I'm a kitten for all I know." He shifted so he could wrap an arm around her.

            "Good."

            "Good I'm human, or good, I'm going to be a kitten?" Spike teased.

            "Both," she hummed.

            Gently, he began running his fingers up and down her back.

            "Are you ever going to finish your story?"

            His hand froze. "I wasn't sure you wanted me to, pet."

            She raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I?"

            "Fine." Leaning over, he brushed his lips across hers. "You're bloody stubborn, you know that?"

            "Yup."

            He grinned. "Alright. I was in heaven. And I was unhappy. No…I was miserable. Needed you. No other way to put it than that. So they brought me to this girl, this glowing, shining, bright thing of a girl, who says I can come back to you, come back here, on one condition. And that condition is that I had to prove, to myself and to those damned Powers, that you needed me. Now-" He held up a hand as she tried to speak. "What she meant by that was that I had to prove that you couldn't survive without me. That we were, what would you call it, destined. And I could only be here for a small amount of time, which she wouldn't tell me. And that I would be allowed to stay for good should I prove it."

            "Wait…" Struggling to understand, she turned so she was facing him more directly. "So…you must have proved that, right? How? And you knew about this, all along? Why didn't you tell me?"

            Spike bit his tongue. "That was the thing, luv. I couldn't. I wasn't allowed to. The whole thing would've been botched if I had told you why I was really back."

            "All this time…?" She looked at his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. Why, for all this time, he had had such a huge secret from her, and she'd never even suspected. Why he'd been under all this pressure, and she didn't notice. But all she saw in his eyes were guilt, love, and desperation. Three things that, when she had first met him so many years ago, she never would have believed he could even feel, much less be consumed by.

            "Yeah."

            Almost unaware of it, she reached out until she had her palm pressed against his cheek. It was all she could do to keep from jumping on him, or doing something equally dramatic, just to get that look off of his face. The look that, though he was probably unaware of it, screamed I'm sorry! louder than he ever could. Or ever wanted to, for that matter. And all she could think about was the fact that she never saw it, never noticed that he had been acting different, that he hadn't been telling her what was on his mind. I never even questioned it.

            Calm down, dummy. She's fine with it. Look. Now stop freaking out and finish the fucking story!  "Anyway…the whole point of the thing was that I had to get you to say that you needed me."

            ["I need you, Spike," she said so quietly she could barely hear herself. "I need you here with me. Why did you leave me? I can't do this without you."] "I…I did."

            "What?" His head jerked in surprise.

            "After you died…I said that I needed you. I need you."

            He smiled softly. "Nice to know that," he purred lowly.

            Buffy collapsed backwards, landing with a soft thud against the pillows. "Did you know you were going to be human?"

            "No." He watched her as she arched her back, running her fingers up through her hair. Grabbing her knee in his hand he pulled her legs onto his lap, gently rubbing his thumbs against the bottoms of her feet. He wasn't sure which he liked better; touching her, feeling her skin under his, or watching her reaction to it. Watching her smile or shiver or laugh… Had she always been this brilliant? This alive? Or was he only noticing now, now that he was different? Now that he was…the same as her? Human?

            She sat up partly so she could catch her wrist in her own small hand. Tugging gently, she pulled him down so his body overlapped hers. His fingers slid from her foot up her leg, over her hip and to her waist, while with his other arm he cradled her head. My Spike pillow, she thought happily. Now comfortable, she cleared her throat. "Is it…is it like when you got your soul?"

            Spike's eyes narrowed slightly. "What, you mean painful like that? Am I looney? No. It's…different. No more lumpies. No more blood cravings or sun allergies…though I didn't really seem to have either one of those as of late, did I?" He lowered his face until their noses were brushing. "I still seem to have my superpowers, though. And I can feel you."

            I can feel you…She smiled. "So you're here. You…I don't think I could stand it, if you left again."

            "I won't." Closing her eyes with a finger, he kissed her lightly. "I promise. Even when you want me gone, I'll still be here."

            "I'll never want you gone," she hummed.

            I must be dreaming, he thought. How else could everything be so perfect? The research and the questions and the theories on his human hood could wait until tomorrow. Tonight was theirs.

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Ok…what do you think so far? Starting next chapter, I'll start working into this story why Spike's a human, and how he ended up that way. I'll try my hardest to write the sendout during the week, but if I can't I'll write it next week (It'll be called ch. 2.5: I'm Glad He Purrs).

Oh yeah…now that I read over this chapter again, I realized I kind of paid homage to a story I'm particularly fond of without even realizing it, so I thought I'd give it some credit :). It's a spuffy fic in which Drusilla turns Spike into a kitten, and he's adopted by the Summers household, and Riley ends up as a fish and then a rock…it's really funny. Go check it out. That was what the whole 'kitten' thing was about.

Now…who wants to review? Anyone?

Pwease?

*gets down on knees, begging*

Pwease?!?

:)