A/N : Here we go, at last I have completed this chapter. It's been sitting around half done for a couple of days but finally I have it done. Thanx to the reviewers of the previous chapter; Mita427, Lady Savage, sunnyhell, pixiecorn, wicked-angel3, spikeswife1, naiya-isis, Higgy's Red, i luv spike, velja. Here's the new chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 14 - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

"So you guys will ride in Angel's car and I'll bring the girls in mine" Cordelia, ever the organiser, was still finalising plans for the Pre-Prom party at the Bronze this weekend. The gang were already dreading what she would be like in the week leading up to the actual prom if she was so bad now.

"Buffy are you even listening?" Cordy complained as her friend stared out of the window. She knew the others were getting bored of what they considered to be her rambling, but they at least pretended to listen. Her blonde friend it seemed was not even up to doing that.

"Sure, listening" Buffy snapped out of her daze only when Willow nudged her with her elbow, "Er, Pre-Prom thing, going in your car, got it" she repeated back.

"Hey Buff" Xander got her attention, "You gotta forget this Spike guy, he's bad news y'know"

She knew he was just saying it because Angel had told him too. The man himself was too afraid of losing Faith to make anymore comments on the subject so he'd got his second in command to do it for him.

"You don't know anything" Buffy shook her head as she got up from the table and walked away.

From across the room, William watched her go and sighed. When he was with her and he was Spike it couldn't be more perfect. Last Friday had been the greatest night of his life, and he thought Monday would be a close second when Buffy agreed to a study date after school. All his hopes and dreams were shattered when she made it perfectly clear he meant nothing to her, barely a friend nevermind anything else.

Had he been a fool, pretending to be what he wasn't so that she might love him? He knew the truth must be told and soon. The Prom was fast approaching and then they would graduate, if he didn't act fast this thing was going to escalate out of all proportion.

He'd quite decided that when it came to the Pre-Prom extravaganza at the Bronze, he would tell her who he really was, consequences be damned. He clung on to the shred of hope that she would understand and still want him, though he was also preparing himself for the worst.

- - - - - - -

"How can it go wrong?" Ripper asked the boy at the garage after school that day, "From what you and the little one have been telling me, Buffy thinks you're Adonis personified. She should be made up to find out you're a decent bloke underneath all the mystery"

"I'm not so sure" William shook his head, wiping grease from his hand down the leg of his overalls, "It's impossible to know what is going on in her head"

"S'not just her" Ripper scoffed, "All bloody women are the same. You can drive yourself nuts trying to please 'em, an all for nothing" he shook his head, "'Cept once in a while you get a little gem like your Buffy, and you just know, no matter what happens, it was worth the effort"

"S'pose you're right" William sighed, "but it doesn't make telling her the truth any less daunting" he realised.

"Right now, I don't think it'd matter if you told her you were a demon fresh out of hell" Dawn called from the door, she's been standing there listening for a while before she came in, "She's so completely head over heels for you, there's just no way she could let you go"

"How long have you been standin' there, you little minx?" Ripper wanted to know and Dawn shrugged.

"Long enough to know Spike is totally wigging over my sister...again!" she said with emphasis on the last word.

"You know what she means to me, Dawnie" William shook his head, "I just can't stand the thought that I'm gonna screw things up" he played with the wrench in his hands, looking down nervously. He'd been so much more confident since the whole Spike thing, even when he looked like regular old William, and Dawn hated knowing he was so panicked about this.

"Will, I promise it'll be okay" she swore, "And hey, it's not just gonna be you all nervous and panicky on Saturday" she told him, making him look up at her with a questioning look, "It's not exactly a date but Andrew said he'd save me a dance" she smiled, ducking her face behind her hair as she blushed scarlet.

William appreciated that she was nervous too, and that she was trying to re-assure him, but it was hardly the same thing. Eventually it was obvious that Andrew and Dawn would end up together, or at least dating for a while. What was far less certain was whether Spike would have a reason to go on existing after Saturday night. As much as he cared for Buffy, and he really did love her deeply, William felt he would be very disappointed to let go of his alter-ego as well as her, if it all went wrong.

- - - - - - -

Buffy stood outside the Bronze, checking her hair and make-up in the side mirror of the nearest parked car and flattening out the last couple of crinkles in her little black dress. The party started at seven and she'd arrived right on time, unsure when Spike was planning on getting there and definitely not wanting to miss him or have him think she stood him up.

Cordy had been kind of annoyed when Buffy had screwed with her meticulous planning, and had been dropped off by her mother instead of going in the car with the rest of the girls. Faith and Cordy didn't want to arrive too much before the guys or be the first ones there, they liked to make an entrance and so a certain amount of fashionable lateness was required. Willow went along with that and so they would not arrive til at least seven thirty.

Buffy checked her watch and realised it was almost that now. Several of those termed as the geek squad had already arrived but Buffy didn't pay any attention to them. She was sort of disgusted with herself when one of them said Hi to her and she didn't even know his name til he prompted her. She couldn't remember talking to Jonathan since seventh grade, and yet they'd been friends before. How had she turned into such a bitch?

It all made her think of William and how terribly she'd treated him. She wondered if maybe he'd show up at the party, but it would make little difference to her in the long run. After all she was waiting for Spike and who knew what excitement the night could hold once he arrived.

In the distance Buffy heard a bike engine and a smile spread across her face as she saw the headlamp of Spike's motorcycle as he approached. What she failed to notice was the black car coming from the side.

"I'm so glad you're here, I..." she began as soon as the bike stopped in front of her, but he never got the chance to answer her or even turn off the engine as a head appeared out of the black car's passenger window.

"It's him!" Xander yelled as Angel peered out of the other side of the vehicle.

"I warned you two!" he shouted angrily, "Now this guy pays!"

Spike pulled the bike round to leave, and Buffy panicked.

"Don't go" she begged and Spike smiled, reaching out a hand to her face.

"I'll be back, gorgeous" he promised, before he raced off, swerving around the car and burning rubber down the street.

"This time we get him, Summers!" Angel grinned maniacally as he revved the engine.

"Angel, no!" Buffy called as the car swung around and gave chase to the bike. The blonde girl panicked, wondering what to do for the best, then she saw her salvation.

"Cordy!" she screamed as the red car came into view "Cordy, we have to follow them, they're gonna kill him" she cried as she forced Faith forward in the passenger seat and scrambled into the back with Willow.

"What?!" was all Cordelia could find to say, glancing towards the Bronze and then into the back of the car at her friend.

"Please, just drive" Buffy begged and with a glance to Faith who nodded, Cordelia put the car in gear and sped off in the same direction as Spike and Angel's gang had gone.

"Buffy, what the hell is happening?!" Faith yelled at her friend, turning in the front seat to peer over at the blonde.

"It's Spike" she explained, tears streaming down her face "They said they're gonna kill him"

"Your mystery guy?" the brunette frowned as they all looked up ahead, straining to spot Angel's car.

"Buffy they wouldn't do it" Willow shook her head as she got hold of her friends hand "Oz wouldn't..."

"He wouldn't need to Will" Cordelia called from the front, interrupting the red-head "Angel would, and as much as I love him Xander is stupid enough to help"

"And Andrew'll do anything to stay in that gang" Faith added, actually starting to worry a little now. She was okay with the guys getting into fights, she'd got into more than a few herself in the past, but now they were talking about murder.

"Oh my God" Buffy gasped, pointing to the road ahead, as a bike flew around the next corner with a black car in pursuit. Cordy screeched the tyres as she made the tight turn to follow, and Willow tried to comfort her distressed friend.

"It's okay, Buffy" she said putting an arm around her, hugging her as she cried "I promise it'll be okay" she knew she should be making no promise of the kind but what else could she say?

"Where the hell is he going?" Cordy mumbled as they pulled round yet another bend, and started travelling uphill.

Faith shook her head as she looked up ahead.

"We're a half mile from a dead end" she told her friends, "This chase'll be over before you know it"

Buffy brought her head up from Willow's shoulder to glance at the view and she realised Faith was right. This was the way Spike had brought her on Friday night, up to the bluff over-looking the whole town. She wondered why he would lead the guys up there if he knew there was nowhere to go when he reached the top...or maybe he'd thought he'd lose them before now.

- - - - - - -

"He's got nowhere to go, he has to pull up" Xander yelled excitedly as they continued to chase the bike up the slope.

In the back of the car Andrew looked scared stiff and Oz, though he'd given up trying to tell Angel and Xand this was a bad idea, was far less than happy with what was happening around him. He'd spotted Cordelia's car racing along behind them, and knew both his girlfriend and Buffy looked petrified.

The black car stopped abruptly when Angel realised driving any further would be suicide. What he couldn't believe was when Spike didn't make the same decision. The bike he rode flew off the edge of the precipice. As if in slow motion it hung in the air and then it was gone, tail lights disappearing into nothingness.

"What the hell...?!" Xander yelled as he climbed from the car, the other guys doing the same. Angel's face was pale and he was shaking though he tried to hide it. This guy had just driven to his probable death, and all because of him.

"Spike!" Buffy screamed as Cordelia's car screeched to a halt and the girls ran from it, "What did you do?!" she shrieked at Angel who still stood motionless a few feet back from the edge.

Oz being the most sensible and least panicked amongst them climbed right up to the edge and looked over and Buffy ran up beside him.

"He's not down there" the currently green-haired guy told Buffy and then the assembled group.

"What do you mean he's not down there?" Xander frowned coming to see for himself, "Where did he go?"

"He's dead" Buffy said flatly, as tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. Willow immediately ran to her side.

"Buffy, he's probably okay" she tried to comfort her friend, "You said he rode that bike like no-one else ever could. If that's true, you know he'll be okay"

"She's right, B" Faith did her best at sympathetic but soon realised why she didn't usually try, "and hey, he wouldn't've felt nothin' even if he did hit the bottom"

Cordelia rolled her eyes as she pushed past her friend and came to stand the other side of Buffy.

"Come on, sweetie, we have to get out of here" she said gently as she could, whilst Buffy only cried harder.

"Yeah, we should get out of here too" Oz told the guys, taking the driver's seat when it was clear Angel was in no fit state. Andrew was only too happy to get away from this place and Xander felt sick now he realised the guy might really be dead. Threatening violence, even doleing out punches was fine but to be an actual murderer, he hated to think he should take some of the responsibility for what happened here tonight.

Buffy could not stop crying as the girls managed to get her into the car and drive back to The Bronze. Willow had suggested they take the blonde home, but she said she couldn't face her parents in this state. They didn't know about Spike, and probably wouldn't approve if they did. It seemed Buffy would be forced to mourn for her love alone, who else was going to care?

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Raise your hand if you're in shock? lol. Review and let me know what you think. Oh, and unfortunately we're headed for the end of this fic, but don't worry, there is still more to go yet, and I have other all-human fic ideas bouncing around in my head already.