(A/N: WOOHOO! I finally have an update! Sorry for the long wait. It's close to the end of semester and as you can guess, all of the assignments are due =( And my beta was sick in the past week. Hope you feel all better, Brianna. ;) Anyway, I know this is late…but Buffy has ended *sniffles* so I send cyber hugs to everyone who has watched the series finale. AND more spuffy lovin' to ease your broken heart over the end of BtVS. *grins proudly*

Previously on Soulmate: This is for the readers who are still under age and didn't read chappy 21 *snorts* riighhht, like you wouldn't sneak in to read it in SA, you naughty readers you! LOL Anyway, long story short…*singing Paul Young's Love is in the Air* Sex is in the air…everywhere I look around…err, I mean LOVE, love is in the air. Yeah, that's right! That's what I mean. Buffy and Spike have finally found love…after having sex, that is. LMAO and here goes the morning after… ;) )

Chapter 22: A Bloody Revelation

Buffy was humming a joyful song throughout her way to school. Never knew Monday could be her favourite day now. She smiled dreamily, a scrape of scarlet colored her ivory cheek as she replayed her encounter with Spike last night. She really needed to thank Willow for making her to talk to him and because of her, she had stated that Monday was definitely her favourite day of the week.

She twisted and turned her padlock, applying her code by heart. She smiled again when she open the locker door and was greeted by four pictures on the inside of it. She traced each of them as she reminisced the time they were taken.

From left, there was a picture of her and Spike taken a year ago, she was sitting on his lap, her arms clung to his neck as the side of her head leaned against his. Spike's arms snaked around her waist protectively, a happy smile plastered on both faces.

Next, it was a picture of Spike's 10th birthday party taken by Xander. Spike was in the middle, scrunching his face, and eyes closed tightly in front of a birthday cake with lit candles on while both Willow and Buffy kissed each cheek of his real hard, eyes closed as well. The room was slightly dark, illuminated only by the candles.

The next one was a picture of Spike and Buffy again. She was wrapping her arms around his shoulders, standing behind the bench where he was seated. Spike was in the middle of strumming his guitar, his head lowering a little as he looked up under his eyelashes and smirked at the camera. Buffy's eyes were gleaming, her face was so radiant reflecting her having a tremendous time with her friends. It was taken in their favourite beach, their regular spot to hang out.

Last, there was a picture of the four of them, Spike, Buffy, Xander and Willow, taken when they were around 12 years old. Their heads rested next to one another forming a small circle, each girl between boys with their hands linking together as if making a promise to be friends forever.

Buffy smiled almost tearfully at the portraits. Each of them brought an amazing memory to her and she would cherish them until she got wrinkly and lost all of her teeth. She giggled at the thought of the four of them being old and still hanging out together. Yep, life couldn't be better than this.

Willow was right again. She couldn't deny her feelings anymore. She loved him and she knew it wasn't only a sisterly love or love between friends. She was in love with him and not because after they had a wonderful sex last night – which was a plus by the way – but she could see the same affection in his eyes when he stared down at her after their coupling. It was pure passion and love and adoration. The sparks in his clear sapphire orbs melt her away and she was sure she could die in them.

Her train of thought was interrupted, rudely, by two large hands grabbing her waist and swinging her around, then pushing her hard against the set of lockers. Her eyes widened for a second but soon fluttered closed as soft lips attacked her owns and demanded an entrance to her tongue. She moaned when she felt a solid body pressed against her, almost crushing her slender one. Her mind shut down, her thought concentrated only to the nurture of these lips and tongue against hers. She clung her arms around the intruder's neck, urging to deepen the kiss.

Somehow the intruder felt the same need as her, as he pressed his body further against hers, preventing any small space between them and virtually moulding their forms into one. He eventually broke away to allow both of them to catch some breath, and finally registered the loud noises surrounding them. Male students especially jocks were whistling and shouting at their blunt action while some of the girls glared and shook their heads at it.

The petite girl in front of him had open her eyes and looked around them, blushing furiously at the feedbacks for their little stunt. She then looked back at him under her hazy eyes, smiled widely as she tried to breathe normally. "Morning to you, too." She murmured her greet under her breath.

Spike only chuckled. He smiled wickedly as he closed their distance once more. "Oh, that's not a morning greeting, luv. That's a payback for last night after you left me undone, you naughty girl."

Buffy giggled like a 12 years old school girl, then feigned innocence while she responded, "Well, don't I get a morning greeting then? I believe I deserved it after you almost crushed my fragile form against these certainly uncomfortable lockers."

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby. I thought you liked rough and tumble." He apologized in a mocking tone, closing in even more to claim her mouth.

A sequence of impatient foot taps was echoed throughout the space as the school corridor started to get empty and quieten. Spike and Buffy groaned lowly and rolled their eyes before turning their heads to the small bald man with crossing arms over his chest. "May I remind you Mr. Giles and Miss. Summers, that this is an educational place, NOT recreational place as you wish." Principal Snyder gave a sinister smile to both students. The blond couple smiled tightly at the NAZI and nodded their response.

"Yes, sir." They said in unison before scurried away from the evil principal as fast as they could.

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Willow and Xander smiled warmly at the approaching couple. Their eyebrows rose identically when they set their eyes on the linking hands of the blond heads. Both knew Spike and Buffy loved to show their affection by wrapping arms around each other or clasping one's hand with another's, but never by linking them. The redhead nudged her boyfriend and wiggled her shapely brows at him as she pointed to the couple by tilting her head to their way. Xander leaned into her, whispering, "It's about damn time," making Willow to chuckle softly. Snickering, he sat straight and smiled again at Spike and Buffy who had twin grins stretched across their faces.

"Hey guys!" Buffy piped up almost too perkily, causing Willow and Xander to wince at her shrill voice.

Willow only smiled, then gave a pointed look at Spike as she said, "So, that rumour about you attacking Buffy's lips in the hall this morning was true then." Buffy's eyes widened at her comment, red hue tainted each cheek in a flash. Spike was rather embarrassed, ducking his head slightly and plopping his body on a cafeteria seat.

"What can I say, red, those pouty lips were just begging to be nibbled on." Spike smirked slyly when Buffy smacked his chest playfully, the red tints on her cheeks spread broadly within seconds.

"Whoa…wait a second, yesterday you two seemed to avoid each other and now you're a couple? Where was I when this happened?" Though he was happy for the blond couple, Xander couldn't help but frown at the current status of the couple that suddenly changed overnight. 

"I believe you were sneaking into my room during that time, sweetie." Willow answered him, batting her eyelashes innocently at the brunette.

It was Buffy's turn to frown. "I thought your parents were always okay about you two. So why did he need to sneak into your room at all?"

"Oh, they're totally okay about us. It's just our late night activity that they don't approve of." Willow wiggled her brows meaningfully at Buffy. The petite blonde's jaw hung open in incredulity. She couldn't believe that her sweet, sweet innocent best friend had turned into a naughty, dirty-minded young woman.

"Xander, what have you done to my sweet innocent Willow? I don't know who this girl is anymore. S-She's like evil Willow…or something," The offended girl only rolled her eyes.

But Xander somewhat thought for an answer seriously as he started to open his mouth, "Well, first of all, there's this thing I know she likes me to-"

"Okay, stop. I change my mind, I don't think I really want to know the…things you guys do," Buffy scrunched her nose and shuddered slightly.

"You sure you don't wanna know, Buff? I can give you some graphic details if you like," Xander amazingly succeeded to hide his smile at Buffy's shocked expression. In the meantime, Willow and Spike had to purse their lips so tight from bursting into laughter as they glanced at the petite blond. Buffy was visibly traumatized at a pile of pictures of Willow and Xander doing wild things, which suddenly flashed into her mind.

The school bell snapped her out of her stupor. She finally acknowledged the red faces of her friends from suppressing their mirth, but she was still too stunned to think of its cause.

After gathering some self-control, Spike got up from his seat and neared his face to Buffy's. "I have to go, pet. I'll see you at the gym, okay?" Buffy only nodded and accepted his chaste kiss, apparently her mind still blinded by the feral visions of Willow and Xander.

The brunette and bleached young men had walked through the exit door, having a fit of laughter at last, when Willow led Buffy by the arm to their next class.

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"Buffy, wait!" Willow jogged towards her best friend; books were clutched against her chest and auburn tresses swayed languidly from side to side. Buffy watched the redhead approach her. Observing Willow's green blouse and black knee-length skirt, her mind open up to the mental pictures of Willow and Xander again as she visualized her friend wearing something less than her current clothing. Something more like mini black leather skirt and leather bra for the top. Buffy shuddered at the thought of Willow smiling wickedly, standing proudly with one knee-high leather boot leg on top of a crawling Xander while a long whip was hold firmly in her tiny hand. The blond head shook her head quickly as if to erase all the horrible visuals out of her mind. 'Geez, is this some kind of after sex thought?' Buffy was truly wigged out of this.

Willow's brows furrowed as she saw her friend shook her head briefly. "You okay, Buff?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I am. W-What do you have next?"

"I have a free period and I'm kinda bored, no homework or assignment at all." Willow's expression showed some disappointment.

Buffy only chuckled. 'Now THIS is the Willow I know.'

"So, since you're going to the gym now, I'm coming with you. Some salty goodness can really help refresh your eyes, y'know." The redhead grinned mischievously at Buffy's yet another surprised look.

"Ever since you're dating Xander, I kinda fear you, Wills."

Willow only laughed as they strolled to the gymnasium.

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"So where's Xander? Doesn't he always have the same free periods as you?" asked Buffy when they seated themselves on the upper row of bench, her eyes were searching for a certain bleached head as she waited for a response from Willow.

"He does, but he has swimming practice today." Willow's eyes were also wandering around to help Buffy in search. "There he is." She held a pointed finger to the centre of the gym floor once she caught a glimpse of Spike's form.

Both girls smiled and waved at the shirtless Spike after he looked up to them and threw his trademark grin. Stepping towards a higher steel bar, he took a deep breath and wiggled his arms in relaxation before he gripped the bar and raised his body up about a foot from the ground.

Buffy and Willow sighed in contentment at his sight. His abdominal muscles were rippling and stretching as he lifted his figure up and down. His arm muscles hardened, his knuckles were turning white and the paths of blood vessel were visibly seen on the back of his hands and on his forearms, as he weighed himself onto the bar. Beads of sweat started to plaster his forehead and some already flew down to his chest, glistening his hard abdomen in the process.

The two girls drooled and swooned over the vision before their eyes. They nearly groaned in disappointment when Spike stopped his activity and went to talk to his coach. Their breath was though caught on the throat as the object of their drool-fest wiped his sweaty chest with a white towel while he listened intently to his coach's instruction. The motion seemed to be slow, Buffy and Willow found themselves inching forward to see in clearer view, their bodies were almost at the edge of their seats.

"God, he's hot! Look at that body, it's so well muscled and sculpted and…" Buffy breathed heavily as she began rambling, never taking her eyes off of Spike.

"I hear ya, sista! That is ONE damn sexy man." Willow responded in agreement, nodding promptly and also still fixing her eyes at the said sexy man. After a full minute, Buffy stepped out of her Spike trance, turned her head to face Willow with a frown.

"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're ogling at!" Buffy smacked her in the arm and gave a sharp look. Willow jolted away in a brief moment, finally snapped herself back to reality. She laughed heartily at Buffy's pouting lips.

"Sorry, Buff. I kinda got carried away for the last five minutes." Buffy only snorted unladylike for a response.

"Pfft! More like a full twenty minutes."

 "Fine, twenty minutes it is then. Hey, if it makes you better, I'll let you ogle at my boyfriend for the same amount of time." Willow offered, smiling giddily.

"Xander? Err, I think I'm gonna pass for that one. I just stick with Spike drool-fest for now." Willow immediately creased her brows into a frown and smacked Buffy in return.

"Hey, I'll have you know that Xander is a very drool-fest worthy."

"I'm sure he is, Wills." Giving a truce sign, Buffy continued, "But like I said, I'm just gonna stick with this one for a while. And hey, that hurts!" She whacked Willow's shoulder with the back of her hand. Willow's eyes widened. Giving a mocking "Oh", she smacked Buffy back on the shoulder, causing the petite blond almost topple from her seat. Both did not acknowledge Spike's presence until they heard his deep and rich British accent.

"You birds keep on bitch-slapping like that and I'm sure as hell, will have the time of my life." The topless bleached head smirked down to them, chest still heaving up and down from exercising and jogging towards the girls. Buffy and Willow froze on their activity, two pairs of eyes were busy gawking at the standing young man in front of them, as both brains screamed, 'Spike's body…body of Spike…'

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Buffy stuck her head inside her mother's office, ignoring to knock on the door first. "Hey, mum. What're you doing?" Joyce looked up from her paperwork and smiling sincerely at her only daughter.

"The usual, reports for the newly arriving products." She then buried her concentration down again to the pile of papers she was holding. Buffy let herself in and stepped languidly towards her mother's desk.

There were several paintings leaned against the front of the desk, one painting leaning against the one behind it and each of them was unwrapped. Buffy bent down to examine them. Her eyes then went slightly wide, followed by her mouth. "Wow…" She breathed as she traced lightly the first painting she saw. The older Summers glanced up from her paperwork again, smiling when she saw the amazed look on her daughter.

"It's breathtaking, isn't it?" Buffy only nodded, too speechless to give her a response. Joyce lifted her reading glasses off and got up from her seat, rounding her desk as she continued speaking, "I had your look too when I saw it the first time." Still smiling, she bent down beside Buffy and studied it as well.

The painting pictured a lake with some factories on the background. The colour blends were beautifully done and the water was painted as if it was made of glass. It had both smooth and rough textures mixing together to create a remarkable work of art, drawing Buffy deeper into it. The calm lake was almost real, Buffy felt if she touched it, her fingertip would be moistened by this painted water.

"What's it called?" Buffy asked softly, her eyes never leaving the canvas.

"It's called Fabriques à Argenteuil created by Gustave Caillebotte. I actually had this imported straight from France."

"Fabriques à Argenteuil …" Buffy repeated the name of the painting with a bad French pronunciation. Joyce paused for a long minute when she glanced at her only child.

"Buffy," She began slowly, "I always knew you had a great passion in art." She paused again, waiting for Buffy to look at her. When the petite blond finally did, Joyce continued, "Well, my gallery is currently getting a little out of hand since we receive many orders lately. So, I was hoping if you could give me a hand in organizing the orders during weekends." Buffy stared at her mother still, blinking once or twice. "O-Of course you will get paid. It can be good for your résumé in the future." Joyce quickly added.

Buffy blinked again before unexpectedly throwing her arms around her mother. "Of course I'd love to help. This means we can be around each other more." She squealed in excitement.

There was a hint of sadness in Joyce's beautiful aging face when she heard the last sentence Buffy stated. She knew she was always occupied by her work and she thought Buffy would understand that. She never expected her to be this happy to accept her offer, just because her daughter wanted to spend more time with her.

"This is like a work experience for me…b-but with pay right?" Buffy looked at her mother uncertainly as she loosened her embrace. The older woman chuckled slightly then ruffled the girl's golden locks.

"Sure it is." The petite blond feigned a relieved sigh.

"Phew! That's a relief." Joyce rolled her eyes at Buffy's comment. She held her daughter's hand as she stood up, bringing Buffy on her feet.

"Oh, hey, what do you say we invite the Giles' to dinner Friday night? We haven't had that together for a while. Sounds good to you?" Buffy's eyes sparkled even more at the mention of the men who had been like a family to her ever since they moved to Sunnydale. Well, one of them just had a change of status since yesterday, but he still felt like a family to her. 

'What is this? First mom asks me to help her in the gallery, and now she suggests us to have dinner with Spike and Giles the way we used to?' Buffy abruptly shook the thought off, afraid that it was only a dream if she kept wondering about it.

"Oh hell yeah!" At Joyce's warning glare, the younger woman quickly revised her answer, "I-I mean definitely. I'm going to call Spike tonight and make sure he and Giles won't disappoint us."

Buffy almost jogged towards the door, heading off to her room. Joyce chuckled again and shook her head lightly, then she went back to her abandoned papers and focused on them once again.

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She lifted the wireless up from its cradle and plopped herself onto the bed. After dialling the number she had memorized by heart, Buffy waited patiently for the person on the other line to pick the line up. A deep masculine British voice soon came through the speaker as its owner said his greeting, "'Ello?"

Buffy smiled when she heard the familiar voice. With a sultry tone, she responded, "Hey, baby. Wanna have dinner with me Friday night?" The person on the other line immediately grinned widely at the phone.

"Is this some kind of a date?"

"Well, you can say that if you don't mind our parents tagging along." Buffy chuckled at his groan.

"Is your mom gonna cook for us?" Spike knew it right away, remembering the times they used to have dinner together every weekend or so.

"Yep. So, Friday night at the usual time?" Spike smiled despite his disappointment over having a dinner date alone with Buffy.

"Yeah, we'll be there."

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The bell rang once. Buffy quickly headed towards the front door as the expected guests waited patiently on the other side of the doorframe. She swung the door open and greeted them with the brightest smile plastered on her face.

"Hey guys. Come on in. Mom's still in the kitchen getting the roast beef out of the oven. Just hope it's still as good as years ago." Buffy snickered, but rolled her eyes when she heard her mom respond behind her.

"Oh please. Even though I haven't cooked for a while, I still have the talent, honey."

"Yee-ahhh…sure, mom…" Buffy threw a dramatic eyes rolling to the older Summers. She yelped at the smack Joyce gave her on the butt. The Giles men only stood there, raised their eyebrows at the display and shook their heads.

"You Summers women never change." Giles noted, gave a soft chuckle. Joyce smiled at the older man as she approached him to give a peck on the cheek.

"How are you doing, Rupert?"

"I'm very well, thank you Joyce. And yourself?"

"Not too bad. As you see, I'm still alive and surviving after dealing with Buffy for over 17 years."

Buffy frowned at her mother's reply. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Spike piped up to offer an answer, "It means that you're a pretty handful thing to have, luv."

"Oh, and you're not?" Giles turned to look at his son, giving him a pointed look.
"Wha'? Of course I'm not." Spike replied defensively.

"Alright, it's dinner time now. Save the argument later. Come on, my roast beef is waiting for us to be poked on." Joyce interfered, started dragging Giles and Spike to the dining room.

Buffy scrunched her nose as she followed her mother's steps. "Ewwww, what's that supposed to mean?"  

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The dinner went perfectly well…in Giles and Joyce's point of view, since Buffy and Spike spent most of the time sticking their fingers into their ears as their parents kept on reliving their children's embarrassing moments. 

"Oh, and do you remember when William ran around our backyard in panic after he accidentally burned his hair for playing with fireworks?" Giles said between his mirth.

Joyce gasped and widened her eyes, "Oh my goodness, I completely forgot about it. That was a funny one. I remembered Buffy cried over it because she thought William had ruined their fun." Joyce broke into hysterical laughter.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Spike sunk deeper into their seats at the humiliation their parents created. 'Oh god, we so don't need to have this talk.' Buffy mutely grumbled. Deciding to ignore the adults' talk, she tried to find something remotely interesting. As she looked up to Spike across the table, her frown slowly grew into a wicked smile. She slowly slipped her foot from her sandal and brought it over to Spike's seat from under the table. Her bare foot began trailing Spike's ankle, moved upwards in a slow agonizing motion, then caressed and lingered to his leg for a while.

Spike shot her a look when he felt the teasing touch Buffy gave him. He tried to suppress his groan but he couldn't help rolling his eyes back. He wiggled his leg, trying to get rid her foot off but it went back to his leg, trailing daringly upwards to his knee and brushed further to his thigh as far as it could.

Buffy struggled over her giggles at his pained expression. It surely was excruciating and killing him. She sunk further into her chair as she tried to move her foot further inside his inner thigh. Spike could only gripped the edges of his seat desperately and tried to hold back his groan.

On the side of the table, Giles and Joyce had stopped their humiliating moments talk and moved on to work discussion.

"So William, how's school so far?" Joyce unexpectedly turned her head to the bleached teen.

"Uhh...I-It's fine" Spike cleared his throat when his voice came as a squeak. "It's fine." He stated again with a low voice, sulking down his seat. Buffy propped one elbow on the table and covered her mouth with her fist so that no one saw her broad-soon-to-be-laughter smile. She bit her lower lip while her foot rubbed harder and even further against his inner thigh. 

"Have you prepared yourself for the upcoming exams?" Joyce asked again, completely oblivious to his aggrieved expression.

"Yeah, have started studying one or two subjects." He shrugged his shoulders casually but his hands still clutched his seat firmly. Taking a deep breath, his brain finally worked out a solution to end this tormenting position he currently was in. He brought one hand under the table, snatched her foot and held it securely.

Buffy gasped, her eyes widening. She tried to jerk her foot off but his grasp was way too strong especially now that he brought his other hand to confirm its control over her foot. Joyce and Giles looked at her quizzically when they heard her gasp.

"Are you okay, honey?" Her mother's voice filled with concern. Buffy only nodded meekly but then burst out laughing when she felt Spike tickled the pad of her foot mercilessly. She quickly covered her mouth up, her eyes still stretched wide open. Joyce and Giles were more baffled by her reaction, they never gave a glance at the widely grinning Spike.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I'm okay. Really...I am," Buffy quickly stammered her apologize. She squeezed her eyes tightly and bit her lower lip again as to contain herself from squirming.

Both parents were not too convinced about it, but decided to ignore it and have another business chat. Buffy let a relieved sigh out. It didn't last long once Spike started to torment her again. She tried to shoot him a murderous look but couldn't as she struggled to restrain her laughter at the ticklish sensation in her foot. Wordlessly, she begged him to stop with her best wounded puppy eyes. Spike's grin only grew wider at her silent request while he shook his head 'no' at her.  

To Buffy's rescue, Joyce turned her head to look at the kids again, chiming in, "I think we can settle for dessert now."

Buffy was suddenly up in a flash, jerking her leg back harshly which caused a loud thud noise under the table in the process. "I'll get it." She held her whimper back and plastered a false enthusiastic smile. Without waiting for a respond, she started walking purposely towards the kitchen, dragged her leg with the sore knee forcefully. However her mother's voice slowed her pace. "Buffy, do you know which dessert I'm talking about?"

The petite blond answered over her shoulder. "Yeah I know. It's the apple pie in the oven, right?" At her mother's confirmation, she increased her pace again.

That left Joyce and Giles turn to look at the amused Spike. He immediately dropped his smiling mask off and stood up. "Uhh...I better help 'er out." Gesturing the kitchen way, he too strolled towards the kitchen. Giles only shook his head at the teens' weird manners while he took his glasses off and cleaned them with his handkerchief.

Joyce stared at the doorway for a moment. There were some stolen glances and secret smiles during dinner, which were somehow strange since…well, why would they do that anyway? They were never like that in front of their parents. Then there was Spike's suppressed pained expression, which Joyce bet that they thought she didn't see it. As well as Buffy's sudden outburst to laugh that was stopped abruptly by Buffy herself. After a few minutes, she broke into a smile as she realized what was going on between her daughter and her surrogate son. Her face though soon crumpled into a frown when the truth hit her. No, it's not safe anymore for them to have a slumber party.

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Buffy winced as she rubbed her knee, cursing under her breath at the fresh red mark planted on her skin "Ugh, that bastard…"

"Need any help, pet?" Spike entered the kitchen casually while he tried to hide his smile. Buffy glared at him and swatted his chest hard as soon as he was within a foot distance. 

"We almost got caught, you know that?!?"

"Wha'?!? You're the one who started it." He defended himself, rubbing his now sore chest. Xander was right. For such a petite girl like her, she really did have a great power in her.

Buffy wanted to stay mad at him but the smile he now gave her, melt her anger away. So she did what she could do best, jutting her lower lip out, pouting.

"Aww, look at those pouty lips…damn, you know I'm a sucker for that." Spike winked at her, bringing his face to hers for a kiss. Buffy smiled as she stretched her neck up to meet him half way.

When their lips were close to meet, Joyce walked into the kitchen. The young couple instinctively backed away from each other, started looking at anywhere else and busying themselves. The older Summers only smiled warmly at both teens. Turning her head to her daughter, she asked her with a calm voice, "How's the dessert going? Is it ready yet?"

Buffy quickly jumped from her stool. Ignoring the pain on her knee, she circled the island and moved towards the oven to take a round baking dish from it. Joyce stalked around the island as well and grabbed a knife as she shooed her only child.

"Move over, let me do it. You'll take forever cutting for only four slices." Buffy rolled her eyes though she couldn't deny the fact. So she complied and gave the task to her mother. Buffy and Spike watched the older woman putting a reasonable slice of apple pie on each small plate, occasionally threw a glance at each other. Both started fidgeting when Joyce had not yet finished her task. Spike shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and rocked on his heels back and forth while Buffy twirled her fingers around a lock of her golden hair.

Joyce had to use all of her power to hide her smile at those two young adults. She placed the filled plates carefully on a tray, taking her time as much as possible. As soon as she put the last plate and started to lift the tray up, she noticed her daughter jump from the stool at the same time as Spike stopped rocking his body and stood straight as well. 

She flashed both blonds another warm smile as she made her way out of the kitchen with the tray in her hands. Just before she reached the doorframe, Joyce suddenly stopped and glanced over her shoulder to the petite blond. "Oh, um Buffy, don't you think you're too old to have a sleepover at William's now?"

With that, she left the two frowned teens alone. As far as they remembered Joyce never complained about their sleepover routine, so what had given her such ideas? It wasn't long when they realized what she meant by being too old to have a sleepover. The blond couple looked at each other, eyes widened and mouths agape. After a long silence, Buffy finally broke the silence off. "Do you think she knows about us?"

to be continued

(A/N: I wanted to show you guys the painting but the damn FF.net won't let me post the link. GRRRR…Anyway, *composes herself and smiled sweetly* Review, please?)