A/N : I think I'm kinda on a roll with this story at the moment, all my ideas are coming together and I'm loving writing it right now. I'm so glad that all you people love reading it too! Thanx to; libraflyter, spikeswife1, Miss Lesley, kori hime, Spuffyfan4eva, freezyboncoolipants, electricgurl, rubi-elektra, Steph, Batdz Angel, Arisluv, Samolly, Screeching Dragon, MikiBaby, u2fan, theoneandonlygirl, enema, Lady Savage, TammyDevil666, spuffyfan-1, Katie, Melphis, slayafreek, Higgy's Red, pixiecorn, Prophetess of Hearts, Princess Consuela, naiya-isis, Semajyrrah, Moluvsnumber17, velja, MaidenRo, for all the great reviews. That's quite enough rambling from me now, here's the new chapter...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 21

It was almost midnight and Buffy was half-asleep on the couch, thinking about all that had been happening to her and what was still to come. This last week she'd grown another clothes size in the stomach area and complained a great deal about it. Her cravings had gone away which she was grateful for, especially after that incident with Spike's animal blood...the thought of that still made her queasy.

Right now, the rain was lashing against the window, thunder echoing in the distance, and Spike was still out fetching groceries. He'd left as soon as the sun went down, telling Buffy she should get to bed. He'd caught her yawning several times as they'd sat either end of the sofa watching some old movie to kill some time. She'd planned to wait til he got back before turning in for the night, expecting he wouldn't be more than an hour at most. So far he'd been more than five and given the present weather conditions too, if it was anyone other than Spike she'd have been worried.

She'd seen first hand how well the vampire could handle himself, and it wasn't like he was going to catch pneumonia or anything. Buffy reasoned there was no need to panic, but it didn't stop that nagging little bit of worry in the back of her mind.

As if on cue there was a knock at the door and the Slayer frowned as she got up from the sofa. If it was Spike (and let's face it who else would it be?) why wouldn't he use the key to open the door? Well, maybe he just forgot it, Buffy told herself, or maybe his hands are full with groceries, or maybe...

The thoughts all died, half made, as she opened the door and Spike practically fell in on her, soaked from the rain and bleeding badly.

"Oh my God!" she gasped in shock as the lightning flashed, illuminating his bloodied form as it hit the carpet beside her feet. He was a mass of cuts and bruises and hardly moving at all, "Spike, please talk to me" Buffy begged, kneeling down beside him as best she could, "Tell me what happened?"

Painfully he turned his head to look at her, reaching out with blood covered fingers to briefly touch her cheek.

"I...I love you" he choked out, coughing loudly and wincing as he did so, "but...it's over now" he sighed as his eyes fell closed and his head hit the floor with a thump.

"No!" Buffy screamed, shaking his shoulders, desperate for him to come back to her. At the same moment, the thunder cracked and lightning lit up the hall, a dark figure striding in through the door, caught Buffy by the shoulders and dragged her away from the vampire.

"No!" she screamed again, feeling so helpless against her attacker she had yet to see. With the swell of her stomach and the extra weight, her centre of gravity was all off. This coupled with her terrible grief over Spike meant she could do little to fight back, "What are you? Why are you doing this?" she cried, tears cascading down her face, body writhing madly, trying to get away. There was suddenly a sharp pain in her stomach, like a knife passing through her and she heard Spike's words again...

"It's over now...It's over on Buffy, you're almost there" Spike urged, gently shaking her shoulders, "It was just a dream...it's over now"

When he'd returned with the groceries, he'd found his Slayer on the couch, eyes closed but flickering madly as she dreamt. When she'd started writhing and screaming he guessed this particular dream was not about puppies and rainbows. He dumped the supplies on the ground and hastily came over to the couch, saying her name and words of re-assurance as he gently brought her out of her nightmare. Her eyes opened but she still wasn't with him for several moments, then suddenly their eyes met and she seemed to be back in reality.

"Oh Spike" she cried, flinging her arms around his neck and burying her tear-stained face in his leather-clad shoulder. He was already soaked from the rain, he figured it didn't matter if she cried all over him. Besides, it was worth it just to hold her again.

"Hey now, what happened here?" he asked, holding her close and gently rubbing her back as she sobbed, "S'alright pet, I've got you, nothing bad's gonna happen"

"It was so real" she choked out, her words muffled by his shoulder, "And I thought you were..."

"Thought I was what?" he wondered, trying to move so he could see her face. Eventually she let up her hold on him a little and hiccuped as she tried to calm down.

"You were gone so long and...the storm, and...something attacked us, the baby, and you were..." she started to cry all over again, grip tightening around his neck as the horrific pictures came back so clearly, "There was so much blood" she told him, going back into his embrace and feeling like she wanted to stay there forever.

Could it be true, Spike wondered, that she'd gotten this worked up over him? That a nightmare about his demise or similar could get her in such a state? Despite the fact she was so upset and he truly felt terrible for her, it gave him that little bit of extra hope he'd been looking for.

She had to care for him more than she let on if she was this much of a mess over a simple dream. He fancied the Slayer had some truly nasty prophetic night terrors in the past, she was probably used to it, but now she was such a mess and physically shaking...or maybe that was him.

"You're soaked" she was telling him when he came back to reality. Her arms were still around him and his around her but they were less close and she was looking at him like a lost child.

"Rain tends to do that" he shrugged, "You okay now?" he checked.

She nodded, seemingly embarrassed by her outburst.

"That must have been some dream to get the mighty Slayer so stressed out" he said gently, pushing her hair off her tear-stained cheek.

She forced half a smile at his humour attempt.

"I'm sorry" Buffy pulled herself along the sofa away from him, til there was a couple of feet of cushioned space between them. How stupid was she? Getting freaked by a stupid dream and throwing herself on Spike? She looked away when she knew she was blushing.

"Hey" suddenly Spike was right back by her side, covering that bit of space she'd put between them, "You have nothing to be sorry about" he told her tentatively reaching out a hand to cover hers where it rested on her knee. She looked down and then up at his face, both of them managing a shaky smile, as the thunder rolled away into the distance and the lashing of the rain on the window settled down to slight pitter-patter.

"I think it's about time certain Slayer-types were tucked up in their beds" Spike sighed, breaking eye contact and moving his hand away before he did something stupid - like kiss her again.

"I'll go in a second" she nodded, grabbing a wad of tissue from the box on the table and wiping her face, "You should go dry off" she told Spike and he seemed to suddenly remember how soaked he was from walking in the storm. He nodded and headed off to the bathroom, expecting Buffy would go to bed.

Instead the Slayer remained on the couch, concentrating on keeping her breathing even. The panic from her nightmare had made her feel sick, her heart beating so violently she thought it would jump clean out of her chest, and her lungs refusing to take air in and out at a reasonable rate. When Spike had held her, it was comforting, but didn't stop the heartbeat thing or the fact her mind was in over-drive.

The more time she spent with him, getting to know the man behind the monster, the more he was making her feel things she didn't think she ever could or would. He'd said he loved her but, not counting her recent dream, that had been weeks ago, and he hadn't tried anything since. Her eyes closed as she considered everything and she was soon half way to dreamland again.

"Slayer, are you...?" Spike stopped when he realised she was still where he'd left her and close to sleep once more. He'd found a towel in the bathroom and managed to get most of the rain water from his hair. His coat had protected his body to a certain degree but the front of his T-shirt and jeans were still soaked through. There was a second pair of pants in the bathroom, drying off by the radiator, but no shirt to be found. He figured since he was going to sleep now it wouldn't matter if he was naked to his waist. He certainly hadn't expected the Slayer to still be on what was his bed these days.

He walked over to the side of the sofa and looked down at her. She appeared as if she'd fallen from heaven, with her golden hair spread around her head, and her angelic expression. He hated to wake her again.

In a daring moment of probable lunacy, Spike slipped one arm around her back and the other beneath her legs, lifting her up off the couch in one motion. She stirred ever-so-slightly, her arms automatically going around his neck to hold on as he carried her to the bedroom. He knocked the door open with his foot, taking the Slayer over to the bed and laying her down. He hated having to let go, to lose the warmth of her body against his skin, but it was not the time for such selfish thoughts.

Spike pulled the comforter up from the bottom of the bed to cover her over and Buffy immediately snuggled down under it. He smiled as he reached out a hand and ran his fingers through her hair.

"G'night luv" he whispered, willing his hand to move away but really not wanting it to. The next step would be to leave the room, something he really didn't want to do yet.

As if she knew what he was thinking her hand shot out from beneath the covers and grabbed his fingers as they moved away. Her eyes were open now, sleep obviously feigned as she stared up at his startled expression.

"Stay" she said almost shyly, and Spike was sure if his heart functioned it would've skipped a beat just then.

"What?" he asked her, unable to believe she'd just said what he thought. They'd stayed in this same apartment for a while now but there had never been any question of them sharing the bed, not since the first night when he'd made a joke about it.

"Stay" she repeated, "I..I just want you to hold me...please" she told him, a slight quiver in her voice that she herself couldn't justify. It might have been residual fear from her dream, but mostly it was because she knew what she was asking for and the idea of spending the night in Spike's arms was so appealing it was scary.

"I can do that" the vampire slowly nodded, inside telling himself he was a total ponce for being so weird about this.

Without a word, Buffy let go of his hand and shifted across the bed to make room for him. It wasn't the first time he'd held her on a bed, it had happened in her dorm one time, but not all night whilst she slept. That was a kind of trust he only ever dared to dream she might come to feel, he was shocked to find it was really happening.

She moved to slip off her shoes and sweater, as he climbed onto the bed beside her. They stopped then, just looking at each other a little awkwardly. Plan sounded great in theory but now it was all a little embarrassing and Spike shifted uncomfortably.

"Maybe I should just go back to the couch..."

Again she reached out to stop him, her arm landing across his bare chest.

"You can't, it's soaking wet" she reminded him as he observed her arm and where it was. Her warm skin made strange but pleasant sensations as it moved against the cold of his own, and he wrapped his arms around her.

Buffy felt oddly comfortable and safe just lying there in the circle of his arms, her head against his chest. She knew sleep would claim her soon, though she'd faked it when Spike carried her from the living room to here. It'd felt so nice, she hadn't wanted to spoil the moment and she found that when he went to walk away she couldn't let him, so she'd asked him to stay.

Deep down she knew what she was doing was a little unfair. If he still felt things for her, like he'd said he had before, it was probably killing him to be this close to her without...doing anything.

Truth was, the Slayer didn't know the half of it. Spike was sure he wouldn't sleep tonight with Buffy's warm little body nestled into his own. He was praying she wouldn't moved her leg too much or he doubted she'd be impressed by what she found. He fought to calm himself down but being this close to her was driving him crazy. Still he wouldn't change his situation for the world. He loved her still, however unworthy he was, but he felt like such a fraud right now.

If she knew the truth this wouldn't be happening. She wouldn't stay in the same house with him, never mind allow him to hold her as she slept. That bloody library, why had he gone there? To find some info on the other pregnant Slayer, to bring Buffy some shreds of comfort. What he'd found out had made him feel sick to the stomach. Nikki Wood, the only other Chosen One to be a mother. The second Slayer to die at the hands of William the Bloody, aka Spike.

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Well, that was mildly Spuffyish, wasn't it? I know you're probably all craving some major Spuffy action but I have plans that I really have to stick to if this fic is going to work! I promise, by the end there'll be complete happy Spuffyness! In the meantime, review please and tell me what you think of this latest chapter!

Extra note to spikeswife1, and everyone else who commented on Buffy wanting to taste the blood; I read up on some pregnancy stuff when I started writing this fic since I don't know a huge amount about it, and I have heard of the condition pica (Spanish for magpie) where pregnant women crave things like dirt and soap and stuff. The blood craving doesn't really have anything to do with the baby's vamp daddy, just Buffy having a weird craving, or as spikeswife1 said maybe she's low on iron - I just thought it'd be fun to write!

Extra note to Moluvsnumber17, and anyone else confused by Riley saying vamps can have kids whilst everyone else says they can't! Riley's line about sterile vampires being a myth was all about him trying to look more intelligent than he was! We know vampires being sterile is true (according to the Jossverse) and when Riley and the Initiative found out Spike made a baby with Buffy they theorized that the whole sterile thing was a myth, just so they had a theory for the situation - they didn't know what else could've happened! Basically, Riley was an idiot, 'nough said ;-)