A/N : Okay, okay, I know my Dawn/Andrew hints were less than subtle but I tried that already and nobody noticed! lol. Anyway, thanx to the reviewers of the previous chapter; naiya-isis, sPIKEaNDmE, Lindsay, wicked-angel3, spikeswife1, i luv spike, Lady Savage, pixiecorn, Courtney37, velja, Higgy's Red, AnitaBlake/BuffyFan. More Spuffy goodness in this part. Hope you like!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 12 - Fantasy v. Reality

"It's crazy" Buffy said softly, still revelling in the feeling of being wrapped in Spike's arms, "but I don't want this to end" she admitted.

"Everything has to end sometime, pet" he told her, kissing the top of her head, "'Cept my love for you" he whispered against her hair. He held his breath waiting for her reaction to that. Slowly her head rose from his chest and she looked up at him with a surprised yet seemingly pleased expression.

"You love me?" she checked, almost unable to believe it. She never truly thought she'd meet the man of her dreams but it was beyond madness to think that if she did he'd actually love her so fast, if at all.

"Said so, didn't I?" he smirked at her expression until she shook her head.

"Not entirely" she pointed out, knowing she was only being picky about this because she really wanted to here those three words, to have this scene play out like it had in her head a million times before.

"Buffy" he said softly, gently pushing her hair back behind her ear, "I love you" he said sincerely and the poor girl was almost in tears she was so thrilled.

"I love you too" she admitted with a shaky smile, "and I know it's ridiculous cos I hardly know you but...I can't help it"

She reached up to kiss him, arms tightening round his neck and pulling him closer as he held her tight to him by the waist, his other hand in her hair. When they pulled away minutes later he frowned.

"You're so cold, you're shivering" he realised, and she smiled when he opened up his coat and wrapped her inside it with him, holding her tightly beneath the stars.

"It's not the cold that's making me shiver" she admitted in a whisper against his chest.

Spike just smiled, not commenting on what he heard. He was having the night of his life but despite what Buffy said it was getting cold, the night was drawing in and he had to get her home soon or her parents would freak, so Dawn had said.

"Come on, luv" he said a little sadly, "It's late, I think I should be getting you home"

"But it's not so late...oh my God" she gasped when she moved to look at the watch on his wrist, "It really is so late" she realised, "but I don't want this to end" she told him, practically throwing herself at him for another kiss which he gladly gave her.

"S'not the end, luv" he promised when the kiss ended and they stood close together, foreheads touching, "It's only the beginning"

- - - - - - -

"Great, just how I wanted to spend my evening" Cordelia rolled her eyes as she stopped the car, "Staring at Angel's tail pipe"

"Weird" Faith smirked, "That's exactly what I had planned" the look on her face making it very clear what she meant.

"Oh gross, Faith, even for you" the girl driving looked appalled before turning back to keep her eyes on the road.

Angel, in his infinite wisdom, had decided the gang needed to go and find Buffy, wherever she was, just because she'd gone joy riding with some mystery guy named Spike. Angel drove the guys in his car and Cordelia drove the girls right behind.

So far they'd been past every possible place in town that two people might go on a date and so it seemed they were going to give up. Cordy sighed as the red light turned green and Angel's car pulled away allowing her to do the same. It was getting late and she just wanted to go home and sleep. Late nights were all very well when you were at a party but driving around in circles was making her crazy.

"You okay, Will?" Faith called into the back seat where her red-headed friend was looking a little pale.

"I'm fine" she lied, "I'm just...Do you think we should be worried that we can't find Buffy?" she asked. Faith shook her head.

"Nah, B can handle herself" she reasoned, "'Sides, who says she wants to be found? I'm thinking her and the bleach boy, secluded spot, revvin' up their engines real good" she grinned. Cordelia looked ill.

"Oh please, Faith, not everyone is sex-obsessed!" she pointed out. The dark haired girl just laughed.

"Maybe you're not" she shrugged, "but then maybe that's why Xander's always so cranky lately"

Just as the two girls were going to launch into a major fight Willow yelled for the car to stop and Cordelia pulled up sharply, realising that Angel's car in front had already stopped just a couple of feet up ahead.

"Now what?" she grumbled, craning her neck to see, "Oh, I think we got trouble" she realised when she saw what the guys had clearly caught sight of.

- - - - - - -

When Buffy caught sight of the school as she and Spike whipped past on his bike, she knew the adventure was almost over. Soon she'd be back at her house, back in reality, and there was no telling if and when she'd see Spike again. Despite the fact he professed to love her and she knew she was totally in love with him, there were no guarantees he'd come back once he left her on her doorstep tonight.

All too soon the bike stopped moving and the exhilarating night was over.

"Home sweet home" Spike told her, but her grip around his body tightened.

"I know" she sighed, resting her cheek against his back, trying to memorise every detail of the moment, the feel of his body, the smell of his leather coat...

With a further defeated sigh she loosened her grip on him and got off the bike. She stopped on the kerb looking up at her house, a place she really didn't want to be when the other option was Spike. His arms wound round her waist from behind and she leaned back against him, eyes closed as he kissed her neck.

"You sure this has to end?" she asked in a whisper, "You have no idea how long I waited for this night and now..." she sounded so sad and he couldn't bear it, especially when he felt the same. He spun her round and kissed her soundly, silencing her in the most exquisite way. A moment later when their lips parted she pushed herself further into his arms, wanting him just to hold her a little while longer.

The 'date' was over, and she'd been impressed by the show, but William knew it was now or never if he was going to tell her the truth. Suddenly he felt horribly guilty for not doing so sooner.

"You're the one shivering now" Buffy giggled against his chest and he brought one hand up to his sunglasses.

"It's because" he said softly, "there's something I should tell you..."

"What?" she asked, still with her head buried in his chest.

Spike was two seconds away from revealing himself to be William when he saw headlamps in the distance, and the streetlights illuminated two cars coming down Revello Drive.

"Bugger it!" he cursed, sounding too much like Ripper for his own liking, "We've got company, pet" he told her, shoving his sunglasses firmly back on his face and wishing Angel and his gang could just have left them alone!

"Oh God" Buffy groaned when she turned and saw the gang approaching. She turned back and found Spike was already on his bike. "Where are you going? You cannot be afraid of them!" she yelled as he revved the engine.

"Not a chance, sweetheart" he shook his head, "but it's not worth the fight right now" he told her.

"But when will I see you again?" she cried as he turned the bike to leave.

"Next Saturday" he told her with a final look, "Party at the Bronze, pet. I'll meet you out front"

Buffy frowned as he pulled away from the kerb and was gone.

"How does he know about the Pre-Prom party?" she asked herself as she turned back towards her house, only to be confronted by all seven of her close friends clambering from their cars.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked, as if she didn't know. Angel looked so angry he might burst at any second.

"Buffy, what the hell did you think you were doing riding off into the sunset with that...that jerk!" he demanded to know. The blonde he was addressing was far from amused.

"He is not the jerk in this situation!" she shot back, "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going inside..."

"You're not going anywhere!" Angel told her, grabbing her wrist as she tried to walk past into the house. She shook him off with ease as Xander grabbed his friends arm and told him maybe he should calm down.

"What is this really about, Angel?" Buffy wanted to know

"I see that Spike guy hanging around again, he's dead!" was his only answer and Buffy shook her head, wanting to get to the real truth.

"Is it because I've moved onto something better, whilst you're stuck humping Faith?" she said nastily.

"You better watch your mouth B" the dark-haired girl stepped forward, all leather pants and attitude, but Buffy wasn't phased and Angel only made things worse with his response.

"Maybe I just don't like losers messing with my girl"

"Your girl?" Faith and Buffy said in unison, both equally shocked by that comment, but Buffy didn't care enough to listen anymore and she hurried towards the house. Willow went after her.

"Buffy, we were just worried about you" she told her friend, the expression on her face backing up her words.

"Maybe you were Will" Buffy shook her head, "Maybe even Cordy and Oz a little, but Angel's just a jealous moron, and the rest follow his lead" she said sadly, "I'll see you tomorrow" she promised as she went up the stairs and into the house.

When Willow got back to the gang, Cordelia had Xander and Andrew in the car with her already and Oz was debating what to do for the best, as Faith cursed and yelled at Angel and he tried to apologise as best he could.

"You okay, sweetie?" Oz asked his girlfriend and she nodded, saying she just wanted to go to bed. He kissed her briefly and she ran into the house next door. Oz climbed into the back of Cordy's car and she drove the boys towards home.

Angel continued to pursue Faith who was angry as hell and wanted the whole street to know about it as she yelled and cursed at him some more.

"You're an asshole, Liam O'Connor! I dunno why the hell I thought I ever loved you!"

"You what?!" he called behind her, so stunned he stopped walking. Faith stopped too when she realised she'd blurted out the one thing she never meant to say aloud to anyone.

"Nothing, I didn't say nothing" she tried to cover as she stopped beneath a streetlight, her back still to him as she ran her hands through her hair and sighed.

"I heard what you said, Faith" Angel told her as he caught up to her and reached a hand out to her arm. She half-heartedly pulled away but he easily turned her around to face him.

"Baby, I'm sorry" he sighed, trying to make her look at him, "I just don't wanna see Buffy get hurt...doesn't mean I don't love you, cos I do" he told her. She laughed painfully.

"Like hell you do" she scoffed, and he brought his hand to her chin, turning her face and making her look at last.

"I do" he swore to her, "I do" he said again, suddenly realising that in some ways that was the real truth.

When he leaned in to kiss her she didn't pull away or lash out at him. They both knew tonight would go from here just how they'd planned it in the first place. It was a weird kind of love they had, but it was better than being alone.

To Be Continued...