Kick, block, punch….kick, block, punch…kick, block, punch…Buffy continued the steady rhythm that she had been training with for over an hour. She would aim a high kick at the bag, would block the bag as it swung towards her, and then she would aim a punch at the bag. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy training, it wasn't like it was boring. It was just so….boring. Sparring with Spike, on the other hand. Now that was fun. He matched her in every way. No matter what kind of punch or kick she aimed at him he could block her, and no matter what verbal lashing she gave out he always seemed to have a comeback. That's the main thing she'd been day dreaming about while training. It seemed no matter what she said he had a counter for it, so she couldn't help but wonder what would get him to close that annoying mouth of his. Kissing him topped her list. And that was unfortunate because dreaming of kissing her stand-in watcher and best friend only built up frustration. UST her popular friends, if they were still hanging out with her, would have called it. It was strange, she barely thought about the people that only a year ago she pledged to be friends with forever. Now, all her thoughts were of her mother, ambush tactics, or how delicious Spike's lips would taste. Usually when the attacks of spike thinkage, as she liked to call them, would hit she would train. However, she'd been going at it for an hour with no relief in site. Therefore, the slayer would normally revert to her back up plan of sparring with Spike. Today, however, Spike had entered the training room and immediately went over to the corner to sit and brood, and no matter what cruel jibes she made at him, she couldn't convince him to spar with her. She'd tried everything from calling him William the Broody to teasing him with a bag of blood that she had brought for him. And her response…nothing. The master of brood himself refused to spar with her.
"Spike, get over it," Buffy said. Spike looked at the slayer, startled. He had gotten used to the steady rhythm of her training and had no idea how she went form kick, block, punch to standing there, hands on her hips, hair coming out of the sloppy ponytail she had put it in. She looked gorgeous.
"Get over what?" Spike asked, the slayer's impatient cough startling him out of his thoughts.
"Whatever's making you act like this. I mean, usually you love sparring with me and today…" Buffy trailed off, noticing the truly evil smirk that was beginning to work it's way across Spike's lips.
"Maybe," Spike said, rising to his feet and lunging at the slayer so quickly she didn't have time to react and instead feel to the ground, Spike on top of her. "I just wanted to surprise you."
Buffy returned Spike's smirk with one of her own. However, before as Spike was opening his mouth for what Buffy assumed was some trivial banter she placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him down for a kiss. It was just like she'd always imagined it. Spike's surprise only lasting a few seconds before his hands found their way to her waist. His tongue teasing his lips as the kiss grows more intense. It was like a scene from a movie. One where you know the character's dreaming and is going to wake up any minute. But she wasn't dreaming. This was real. This was…
Buffy awoke with a start. The beige sheets that she had been covered with fell around her waste and she patted the bed blindly, searching for Spike. It was only after a few moments of fruitless searching that she opened her eyes. Then she remembered, Spike had gone home that morning. It had been a month since her mother had died and Spike had insisted that the Slayer's life return to normal. She had agreed, reluctantly. Still, Buffy had stayed strong, waiting until Spike had packed up the few things he had brought over to the slayer's house and left to break down and cry. It wasn't like she wouldn't see him every again. Every day they would be getting together to train. But no matter how many times he said nothing would change she knew it would. She would no longer wake up with him beside her, he wouldn't be there to comfort her when she was sad. He was leaving her alone, claiming she needed a home that was just hers. Didn't he realize what she had realized so long ago…it wasn't home without him.