Chapter 6

Buffy woke up by the streetlight shining in her eyes. 'Umph… My bed is kind of pavementy today…' Then she gasped by the sharp pain in her ribs. She opened her eyes and found that she lay by the side of the road; outside of the apartment that she shared with Riley.

She tried to stand, but the increased pain in her side prevented her from doing so, and she fainted.


"Hello, bit. What brings me the pleasure of your company?"

Dawn fingered with the hem of her skirt and smiled slightly. "Well, I was in the neighbourhood and I was attacked by a vamp…"

"Dawn, are you okay?" Spike rose and walked over to the slightly frightened teen-ager.

"Yeah…" She answered. "I guess so… I'm just a little wigged. Walk me home? Please… Pretty please with sugar on it."

Spike smiled. "'Course, bit, anything for you." He held out his arm to her and they walked out into the night.

"So… How are you, Spike?" Dawn asked after they'd walked in silence for awhile.

"I'm fine, bit. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, you know… Nothing special… So you're fine with Buffy living with Riley?"

He flinched at the question. 'Bit doesn't know how Captain Cardboard's treating her sister… I'm the only one who knows…'

"If it makes her happy." They made it to Revello Drive and they said their goodbyes.

"Dawn, wait!" Dawn turned around from her place at the front door.

"…Is Buffy home?" Spike asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nope." Dawn answered with a cheery smile. "She's at Riley's, oops, sorry, their apartment."

Spike nodded and walked away into the darkness, where he belonged.


Spike wandered the streets of Sunnydale, and wound up at the same street that Buffy and Riley lived on. That's when he felt it, the faint smell of blood, and he knew instinctively that it was Buffy's.

He ran towards the source of the smell, and felt his demon come forth as he took in the look before him.

There she was. His sweet angel. She was lying on the pavement clutching her side, and she was clearly unconscious.

"Bloody hell, you fucking bastard… What have you done to her?" He growled under his breath. He lifted Buffy's hand away from her side, and he felt his un-dead heart brake, on Buffy's left hand was an engagement ring.

He ran his hands over her ribs and winced at the jagged edges. "Come on, luv; let's make the pain go away…" He whispered in her ear and made a silent apology when Buffy whimpered as he carefully lifted her up from the pavement.


Buffy snuggled up to her cold sheets. 'But wait, when did my sheets kiss my forehead?' Her eyes shot up and saw that she was safely resting in Spike's arms.

Spike noticed that Buffy was awake and carefully slid down from the bed. What he didn't notice was Buffy's frown as he did so.

"How are you feeling, Slayer?"

Buffy kept her frown, but answered. "I'm fine…"

Spike snorted. "How can you say that you're fine? Your fiancé has beaten you to unconsciousness and leaving you out on the street!"

Buffy looked up at him. "… What do you mean? Fiancé?" He nodded towards the ring on her finger and she felt slightly disgusted. "I said no to him… That's why he did this…" He calmed himself down and sat down next to Buffy on the bed. "You said no to him?" Buffy nodded and Spike let out a sigh of relief.

"This has to stop, Buffy. You have to stand up for yourself. You're the Slayer. You're strong and beautiful; you're the light that makes this endless night bearable."

Buffy smiled as she recognized his words from her dream. "Spike, you don't understand… He only does it because he loves me."

Spike snorted again. "Buffy! I don't have a soul, but I don't treat you like that…" He looked at her. "…Give me a chance to show you how love really should be…"

Buffy looked at Spike. "What do you mean?"

"When you've healed, let me take you out."

"Take me out… You mean like a date?"

The smile she received was full of warmth, and she noticed the twinkle in his eyes. "Yeah, Buffy… Like a date."

'Oh, my god… He just asked me out for a date? But I have a boyfriend… '

Spike saw the stressed look in her eyes and took her hand in his.

"Don't worry, luv… We'll make it a secret date… Okay?"

Buffy visibly relaxed and after a moment of silence, she answered him;

"What about tomorrow night?"

Spike's eyes lit up and he smiled. "I'll pick you up at seven."


Buffy had spent the rest of the night in Spike's crypt, but he had been the perfect gentleman and let her sleep in his bed, while he sat in a chair and watched her. He had driven her home just before the first rays of sun had lit up the small Californian city. Now she lay in her bed, unable to sleep, staring up at the ceiling. She fingered on the bandage around her ribs. He had patched her up when she was unconscious.

Dawn came tip-toeing into her room. Buffy decided to ignore her until she saw that Dawn rummaged through her wardrobe. "Hey, Dawn, what are you doing?" Dawn paled and dropped the pink sweater she had in her hand. "Oh, hi Buffy! I thought you were asleep. You came home pretty late…" She smirked at this and looked at Buffy. "So I guess by the lateness that you and Riley had fun, huh?"

Buffy looked wide-eyed at her sister. "What did you just say?"

"I said…" She jumped up on Buffy's bed and sat next to her sister. "Scoot over!" Dawn accidentally touched Buffy's bandaged ribs and Buffy whimpered in pain.

"Oh, god, Buffy, what did I do? Was it your arm?" Buffy shook her head.

"No my arm has already healed… One of the good things about being a slayer… You don't have to wear a lot of casts…"

Dawn looked at her sister and lifted the cover to reveal Buffy's ribs.

"What happened to your ribs? Who bandaged them, you can't do it yourself, and I know that."

Buffy shrugged, not wanting Dawn to hear about her fight with Riley.

"It was a huge, green ugly demon. Don't know what it was… Spike fixed me."

Dawn settled with that answer and started to get out of Buffy's room. She stopped in the doorway. "Oh, and Buffy, mum's coming home today, I just figured you wanted to know." She smiled at her sister and closed the door behind her.

Buffy smiled to herself. 'Mum's coming home! And I'm going on a date with Spike! ...Huh? Where did that come from?' She ignored the happy thought and tried to go to sleep. Then shefound that something squeezed her ring finger. Riley's ring. She took it off and stared at the simple gold band for awhile, and then she threw it through the open window.

The last thing she saw before her eyes before she fell asleep was Spike, lying like an angel in his bed.


A/N I know I promised Spuffy this chapter, but it turned out to be the beginning of Spuffy… Review!


A huge thanks to everyone that has reviewed. You make my day!

Rachel: I really doesn't hurt when he's there to save her:) Thanks for your review! Yeah, I know, Riley is evil…

Girl version of Chandler: You really are a girl version of chandler. Of course he has to run to her rescue:)

funkydevil206: I'm on my way :) I try to update at least once a day!

Caitlin: Thanks to you too! I'm posting :)

Orlando-crazy: Thank you ;) Hope you enjoyed this chappie too!

soccergirl2002uk: I hate Riley too… I'm thinking about putting him out for good… ;) Thank You!

ness345: Nessie, last but not least. A huge thank you :). I think that Buffy's getting that; Riley bad, Spike good. Spuffy forever!