Disclaimer: I own only Buffy's family, excluding Joyce.

Previously: Giles has called Buffy and told her he won't be returning for a few more days--due to a snowstorm in England--Buffy assured him she is not in a relationship with Spike, but the vampire overheard. Jack has asked Spike to tell Buffy that Denise is pregnant and Kevin has sold his information on Spike to Jim.

"Oh my god!" Buffy exclaimed. Spike nodded gently.

"I know it sounds--bad--but..." Spike trailed off.

"Oh my god!" Buffy repeated.

"Pet, I didn't want to tell you but your granddad asked me to help--and I couldn't say no," Spike explained.

Buffy sank to the ground, repeating "oh my god". Spike knelt beside her. They were only a few minutes from her house--if he could just get her there...Spike placed a hand on her back--trying to steady her. She looked very pale--almost translucent.

"You okay, Pet?" Spike asked softly.

Buffy looked up at him with large eyes. She seemed so innocent sitting there, in the dirt. Her eyes were beginning to tear up. Spike wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, cradling her to him like an infant child. She burst into tears then--she always picks my best shirts to cry on, doesn't she? Spike mused, scooping her into his arms.

He carried her the few feet to her back door. Joyce opened it and stepped aside. She simply stared at her young daughter and shook her head. Spike moved past her.

"Evening Joyce," he said.

"Evening," she replied and opened the basement door for him. The vampire nodded and went down stairs. He laid Buffy on the cot--she had calmed sufficiently--and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. She absently clutched it as Spike pulled off her boots. Then he stepped back and took his coat off. He delicately rolled Buffy to her other side and climbed onto the cot beside her. Again, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, spooning into her.

She sighed--inaudible for anyone without super-hearing--and closed her eyes. Spike kissed the top of her head and slipped into slumber as well.

The top of the stairs had rarely been vacant in the past few days. In fact standing there at that moment was none other than Jim Summers himself--silently watching his daughter and the creature fall asleep.

There was definitely something going on between them--and Jim just couldn't have that happen. If Buffy got her heartbroken--why, Jim didn't know what he was going to do--but Buffy couldn't fall in love with a vampire--it was unethical--especially since she was the Vampire Slayer.

Jim figured it this way: Heartbreak by Spike--initiated by Jim of course--would save her from possibly having her heart physically ripped out and eaten. Not to mention, if the couple did stay together they'd have immense amounts of problems. Spike couldn't go out during the day--he couldn't have kids--he couldn't--well, he couldn't do a lot of things! Jim was saving Buffy from that! He really was! Plus, he could potentially beat the crap out of Spike--even if it was only metaphorically--and that fact pushed him past his doubts of what he was about to do to his little girl.

Willow Rosenberg was absolutely sick of families--She loved hers dearly, of course, but they could be such a hassle. She had gone to great lengths to ensure she didn't ever have to baby-sit her annoying twelve-year-old cousin. This year she had finally convinced her aunt and uncle that he could stay by himself for more than five minutes--he had also been very thankful of that--which was why Willow was shocked to find Buffy's aunt Judy open the door Tuesday morning.

Willow had never actually met the woman--but Joyce had pictures around the house--and Willow knew this was the youngest of the three sisters. Buffy often said she was the nicer of the two aunts as well.

"Um, hi, I'm looking for Buffy, is she here?" Willow asked.

"And you are?" Judy asked, smiling.

"Willow, I'm Buffy's friend from school--."

"Willow!" Joyce pushed past her sister and hugged the redheaded girl on her front step tightly. When she let go, Willow stared at her for a few moments.

"Hi, Ms. Summers. Is Buffy home?"

"Yes, of course! She's down stairs with Spike," Joyce replied ushering the witch inside.

"W-with--with S-spike?" Willow stammered.

"Yes, down in the basement. You can head down, if you'd like. I'm sure they're awake," Joyce opened the door and let Willow slip inside. Gently, she stepped onto the top stair. She was terribly frightened of what she might find when she reached the bottom--and this fear was making her descent agonizingly slow.

She stood on the cement flooring--her eyes shut tight--as she turned on one heel to face the opposite wall. She opened the left eye first and then the right. And she wished she hadn't. Because lying on the bed--very snuggly--was Buffy--and wrapped, possessively around her--was Spike. Willow nearly passed out right there on the stairs.

Buffy heard the soft creaks of someone coming down the stairs. She groaned and rolled away from Spike's chest, but the arms around her squeezed her tighter. She was facing the stairs--she could pretty much picture them behind her eyelids. The intruder stopped and turned. Buffy was really becoming annoyed by this person, whomever it was--she opened her mouth to snap at them--and cracked one of her eyelids open--when she realized who was standing at the bottom of the steps--her face a mixture of horror, disgust and maybe a little amusement.

"Willow!" Buffy bolted from under the covers--and Spike's cool grasp. The vampire immediately recognized the loss and opened his own piercing blue eyes. He sat up--straight as an arrow--when he noticed the redhead staring wide-eyed at him and Buffy.

"Red? What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Spike asked menacingly.

"I should be asking you the same question!" Willow replied forcefully. So much that Spike shut-up and even she had to wonder who had just spoken the words, which had come out of her mouth.

"Willow, I can explain this whole thing. It's not what it looks like--." Buffy started.

"Really. It looks pretty obvious to me Buffy. It looks like you and Spike are sleeping together!" Willow accused.

"What? No! Spike and I are not having sex!" Buffy exclaimed.

Willow grinned, "I never said having sex, did I? I said you were sleeping together, which is a completely different thing."

Spike instantly remembered why he liked Willow so much. She was very coy and was amused by the slightest things. She was also the most decent of the Scoobies--well, except, of course, for Buffy--but that was only of late.

"And even though," Willow continued, "it's very rare that the meaning of that phrase is interpreted with actual sleeping going on--I would think that you of all people would know I wasn't assuming--are you having sex?"

"Okay, um, what? And then no!" Buffy replied, "Spike and I are just..." She turned to the vampire behind her, "what are we?"

"I'd say we're in that stage between couple and friends..." Spike answered, all the while keeping Buffy's eyes locked with his. Maybe she wouldn't punk out and deny things again. Maybe if only he kept watching her...keep her watching him...

"Yeah," she broke his gaze and turned back to Willow, "I'd call us in an In Between Phase--but you can't tell!"

"So you're friends...with benefits? And I won't tell." Willow moved over to the cot and sat by the lone pillow.

"I mean it, Wills, not even Xander!" Buffy continued.

"Are you kidding? Xander would freak if he knew you were dating another vampire--and he might just go all Michael Meyers if you told him it was Spike you were dating--or whatever," Willow agreed.

Buffy stared at her for a moment, "You mean the Austin Powers guy?" Willow raised an eyebrow. For once, she had no idea what Buffy was talking about. What Austin Powers guy? She hadn't made any Dr. Evil puns, had she? They often slipped out since she had been dating Oz.

"No, Pet. Not Mike Meyers. Michael Meyers," Spike corrected gently.

"What's the difference?" Buffy asked endearingly. She cocked her head to the side and stared at him.

"Mike Meyers played the secret agent with the bloody good accent; but Michael Meyers was a mass-murderer in those Halloween horror flicks," Spike replied.

"Oh, okay, what's going on?" Willow implored--she still was very confused. The conversation had turned from Xander to Austin Powers in one short question from the Slayer. And NOW, to top it all off, Spike was making with the goo-goo eyes towards Buffy.

"BUFFY!" Willow grabbed her friend's arm, "can I see you upstairs?" Willow tugged her friend away from Heartbreak Number 4 and back up the basement stairs. When they got to the top, Willow threw her friend's arm back down to her side.

"Okay, what the HELL is going on?" Willow yelled. The room suddenly got very quiet. Willow looked up to see Buffy's two aunts and uncles and her mom starring at them in silence, "What?" The family got up very quickly and left the room. Willow dragged Buffy over to the vacated couch and pushed her down.

"Don't get me wrong Buffy, I mean Spike--yeah, he's hot--and I can totally see the lusty feelings there--but you..." Willow faltered. Maybe she was misinterpreting the signs. Maybe Buffy was just being sweet because Spike was living with her--and they were date-y and all. Or maybe Willow was just being a complete headcase! Whatever--she had to know if Buffy was feeling more...or less than "friends with benefits" should.

"I what, Will?" Buffy asked. She had a sinking feeling she knew what Willow was going to suggest. It was the same something she hadn't really admitted to herself. It was the something, which her mouth had denied to Giles on the phone, even though her heart was screaming the truth. It was the something that she wasn't sure if she could tell Willow.

"I might be overreacting--or over-analyzing--and if I am, do tell me--but you act like you--I don't know, like you love him or something. It's very disconcerting to someone who has recently come into the circle of "knowledge"," Willow replied. Willow was really, really, hoping Buffy would call her crazy or screech at the top of her lungs that that was disgusting. God, she would've been especially happy if Buffy had stood up and slapped her across the face--anything to prove Willow's accusation had been false. But the Slayer made no move to deny or agree. She simply sat, having a sudden fascination with the small piece of lint on the couch cover.

"Buffy..." Willow urged.

"Willow, the truth is, I really can't answer that--and it's not because I don't want to! I really do...but the thing is...I don't really know myself. After everything that's happened between us this weekend--it's like, I don't know--we clicked. This is probably really hard to understand, but--." Willow cut her off.

"No, I get it. It's very similar to how Xander and Cordelia started dating," the witch wrinkled her nose when she mentioned the cheerleader, "only they were thrown into very dangerous situations and they just started making out--you and Spike--you were thrown into a very "This Royally Sucks" kind of situation, where neither of you wanted to be--and ironically, you found solace in the arms of the very person you didn't want to be with."

Buffy gaped, open-mouthed, at her redheaded friend. Willow had pretty much hit the nail right on the head. So, she did totally get it. Buffy inwardly sighed, it was nice having someone understand her relationship with Spike--especially when she herself could not figure it out.

"Willow, how is it you can take something so complicated and make it that simple?" Buffy asked proudly.

"It's a trait I picked up from Oz," Willow replied, smiling. And then her face fell. She missed him terribly--but she had sworn to everyone she wouldn't try to do another spell--that last one ended way too badly. For a second, Willow hoped maybe the effects still hadn't worn off--but no, that couldn't be it. When the pair was under Willow's spell they had been sickeningly sweet and lovey--they just seemed like two, normal people in love.

"This is why I love you Wills," Buffy hugged her friend gently and then pulled away, "but you can't tell anyone. Not Giles. Not Xander. And especially not Spike. I don't want him to know yet."

"I promise--I hope. But Buffy you know--the minute someone pushes, I crack! It's a character flaw! I've been trying to work on it, but...again with the you know me," Willow sounded very panicky. Her voice was shaky.

"Wills, I trust you with my life--I think I can trust you with a secret--besides, A. I plan on telling the rest of the gang when they all get back--which should be around New Years--and B. I'm going to try and verbalize my feelings for Spike to him, but I'm not sure how soon...I don't want to scare him off," Buffy assured her.

"If Xander were here, he'd say: "Do or do not. There is not try" in a very Yoda-y voice--you know, all raspy and everything," Willow smiled shyly up at Buffy--reminding the Slayer of the Willow she had met when she had first moved to Sunnydale--it also reminded Buffy of how much her friend had changed and matured in the last few years--going from introverted, kind of geeky redhead who was in love with her best friend to smart, funny, still a little geeky redhead who was in love with a werewolf and practiced witchcraft in her spare time.

"Thanks, Will," Buffy placed her hand on top of her friend's, "I really needed someone to tell all this stuff to."

"That's what I'm here for, that and the funny way I talk," Willow replied smiling.

"So, this Willow character knows too, huh?" Jim whispered, watching his daughter and her friend from around the corner, "and she doesn't seem to like Spike either...this could work for me..."

He turned back--facing the kitchen once again--and nearly shrieked. Standing only a mere foot away was Joyce's father, Jack. And either he had heard what Jim had said, or the enraged look on his face was from eating too much holiday candy. Jim had to go with the first thing, since Jack slammed Jim up against the wall, shaking the spices on the wall rack beside his head.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jim asked, grabbing at Jack's hands.

"At the moment, you and your scheme to hurt my little girl," Jack seethed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jim snapped, starting to move out of Jack's grip but the ex-Naval Officer pushed him back into the drywall.

"Don't give me shit, Summers. I'm on to you--and if you hurt Buffy, I'll rip your skin off and make it into boots for myself--got it?" Jack threatened.

"What I 'got' is you're a crazy-ass old man and you need to get your hands off of me," Jim replied, when Jack didn't move, Jim continued in a lower voice, "I could have you arrest for harassment," Jack let go and Jim straightened his shirt, "Don't fuck with me man, 'cause you will get burned, you will get burned." Jim walked away, leaving Jack still miffed.

"That lousy, little son of a bitch," Jack glanced at Buffy and Willow on the couch, "Buffy's gonna kick his ass. And if she doesn't do it, Spike will be more than happy to comply."

"More than happy to comply with what?" Jack turned around. Spike was leaning against the island, pulling out a package of cigarettes.

"Nothing." Jack answered, he walked out. Spike watched him go and them slithered over to where he was standing. The vamp looked around the corner and saw Willow and Buffy in deep conversation about Christmas gifts. He smiled lightly as Buffy declared how much she 'adored' his gift. He thought he could feel his ego get a smidge bigger--though that was hardly possible, especially since Buffy had declared they were actually something...good thing may follow in the coming days, he thought. Little did he know, how wrong he was...

TBC...in chapter 11:?????????????

In the coming chapters:

A car accident...
A brawl...
A few threats...
And an important fight...