Chapter 12

A week went by and Spike walked into his old house. He still had a key so he let himself in and closed the door behind him. He saw that there were no lights on and he figured that his dad was working late again and Joyce was at the gallery. He wondered where Buffy was as he headed up the stairs. He got up there just in time to see Buffy walk out of the bathroom with her hair all wet and a towel around her. He stopped suddenly and looked away from her. "Oh, dear god." He whispered to himself when Buffy then noticed him there.

"Hey, I didn't know you were coming over." He turned back to look at her and she didn't seem at all embarrassed to be standing in front of him in a towel. Spike cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Yeah, just thought I would stop by." He said trying to make casual conversation and she gave him a smile.

"Okay, just give me a second while I get dressed." She told him and he nodded as she went into her room and closed the door. Spike let out the breath he was holding and waited for her to come back out. She came out a few minutes later wearing her sweats and Spike was relieved for that. "That's better; you wanna watch a movie or something? If you're not doing anything else." Spike nodded and they both headed downstairs. Buffy put in The Mummy because it was her favorite movie. Spike smiled at her decision. She was the only girl that he knew that liked action movies. Well, except for Faith. All the other girls were into chick flicks and he was just glad that he didn't have to watch one of those. They sat back on the couch as the movie started. When the credits rolled a few hours later, Spike looked over at Buffy and saw that she was asleep. He smiled as he moved away from her carefully and turned the TV off. He then picked her up and went upstairs. He went into her room and placed her on the bed. Just watching her sleep he realized how much she really meant to him. Sure they fought a lot like most siblings would, but he loved her and he was very glad that she was in his life. Spike was really sad when he lost his mother, but he was very grateful for Buffy and Joyce. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and was about to leave when her voice stopped him. "How did I get up here?" She asked and he gave her a smile.

"I carried you, pet. I can't believe you fell asleep during the movie. You must have really been tired." Buffy nodded and sat up.

"You could say that." She said as she patted the bed and he sighed and sat down next to her. "Is something on your mind?" She asked him and he looked at her and shook his head.

"No, what makes you say that?" Buffy shrugged.

"I know you pretty well, Spike. I can tell when something's bothering you. You wanna talk about it? We usually tell each other everything." Spike thought about it and then shook his head again.

"It's nothing for you to worry about." Buffy nodded even though she wasn't convinced. Spike looked at her and wondered about what has been bothering him. He knew that he had to see something or it would continue to drive him crazy. He leaned closer to her and without even thinking about it, he kissed her on the lips. She was taken by surprise and stopped it right away. She stood up and away from him.

"What are you doing?" She asked and he stood up also.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." He said and she laughed.

"Yeah, I'll say. Where did that come from?" Spike shrugged.

"I don't know, I saw you at the Bronze last week and I started looking at you in a different way and it had me confused. I guess I had to kiss you to see if anything was there." Buffy crossed her arms over her chest.

"Was anything there?" Spike thought about it and then shook his head.

"Not really, I didn't feel anything." Buffy sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank god." They looked at each other and then burst out laughing.

"Can we just forget that happened and go back to the way things were? I really don't want things to be awkward with us." Spike said and Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, it never happened and we will never speak of it again." Spike agreed and was suddenly starting to feel better.

"Okay, since that's finally settled I guess I should head home now." Buffy nodded and Spike gave her a smile as he left her room. She knew he was out of the house when she heard the front door close. She then shuddered and wiped her mouth.

"So gross." She said to herself as she got into bed and knew she would find it very hard to fall back asleep. Joyce was out walking when she was done at the gallery. She decided to head to the Espresso Pump for a cappuccino and when she got there she suddenly stopped. She looked in the window and saw Giles sitting down and talking with a dark haired woman who looked a little younger than him. She kept staring when Giles suddenly put his hand on the woman's and smiled at her. Joyce tried not to cry at the scene as she turned and walked away.