"Will..."

He could feel her hand skating over his naked back. He tried toforce his eyes open, but he was just too comfortable where he was.

"Will, get up. I need you to take me to school before I'm late," she repeated.

He rolled over to his back and smacked his lips, his eyes still closed. Ah, yes. Real life calls. Classes must be attended. Thoughts of naked Buffy writhing under his sweat-slicked skin must be pushed to the back of his mind. His eyes slowly rolled open. She was sitting on the bed smiling down at him. He wished he could wake up like this every day. Then again, he'd probably never make it to class or anywhere else if he did.

"Morning, Kitten," he grinned, his voice still raspy from sleep.

"Don't 'morning, kitten' me, Buster," she warned him. "I already called Harmony and told her that I had a ride. So let's shake a leg."

"That could be arranged," he smirked. "Which leg would you prefer that I shake... the left one? The right one? Or the--"

"William!"

Her cheeks were crimson, but the look in her eyes told him that a little more coaxing, on his part, and she wouldn't make it to school until lunchtime.

"Okay, okay. So touchy in the morning, Pet."

He managed to shower and dress in record time. Buffy was standing by the front door with an armful of books and her purse slung over her shoulder. He grabbed his bag and followed her out the door.

"I suppose we should leave the top up as not to muss your perfectly coiffed do?" he teased.

"Remind me again why I'm with you?" she asked, sliding into the DeSoto beside him.

"My irresistable charm?" he offered.

"Mmm... not so much," she replied as he backed out of her driveway.

"Chiseled features and model-worthy bod?" he asked.

"I'm thinking a big N-O," she shot back.

"That little thing I do with my tongue that makes you--"

'That would be it," she cut him off quickly feeling her cheeks go warm again.

He had done that little thing with his tongue in places that she never thought a tongue would ever be privy to. She silently thanked her mother again for choosing her career over her daughter. Playing house with Spike was much more fun than being ignored by her mother any day.

She checked her watch, glad that he was relatively easy to get out of bed and out the door. Her cousin, Xander, had stayed with them for a month during her freshman year while his parents were in detox and her mother had to start trying to wake him an hour before the alarm went off if she wanted him up and out the door in time for his first class.

"Oh, I meant to tell you yesterday," she began, remembering her run-in with Cordelia and the rumors that had spread by the end of the day. "Apparently, Angel dumped Cordy for some college girl named Fred."

"Fred Burkle?" Spike asked, his eyebrow raised at the name.

Fred wasn't a common name for a girl. Winifred Burkle was in his Human Relations class. Quiet little bird, but smart as a whip. He couldn't picture the great poof dumping a prize like Cordy for someone as plain as Fred -- not that there was anything wrong with the girl. She was sweet and modest. Nothing like the Cheerleader. And that's what bothered him about the situation. What was Angel doing with someone as mousy as Winifred Burkle when he could have the most popular girl in Sunnydale all to himself? Something smelled decidedly like vermin.

"Yeah, I think that's her name," Buffy nodded. "You know her?"

"I do. Just can't picture Peaches with someone like Fred," he told her. "Not his type at all, I mean based on his past relationship with Queen C. Fred, she's not the cheerleader type. She's more lab coat than pom-pom if you know what I mean."

Buffy had to agree. The lab-coat wearing crowd weren't exactly in Angel's comfort zone. There had to be something more behind his hook-up with Fred Burkle.

"Only thing I can think is it being a money thing," Spike told her.

"What kind of money thing?"

"You know that Frankenforehead's old man was about to lose his company, right?" he asked.

"I didn't."

"Right," he nodded, turning into the student parking lot of Sunnydale High. "Apparently, Liam Sr. had made some bad deals and finally had to partner with none other than one Roger Burkle. The Burkle's are old money. They're all about keeping things in the family and sealing the deal in blood, so to speak."

"In English now?"

"Probably betrothed his oldest daughter as part of the deal, Kitten," he explained.

Buffy thought about that for a moment. She was almost angry for Cordelia. Almost. What kind of antiquated moron makes his daughter part of a business deal?

"Wow... that kind of... sucks," she admitted.

"Yeah, it does. And I imagine the Cheerleader might actually need one of her old friends right now," he suggested. "Not that she'd ever admit it."

He was right, of course he was. Buffy decided to bite the bullet and try to make nice with Cordelia. She couldn't imagine how she'd feel if Spike was taken away from her as part of a business arrangement.

Spike watched her face darken and figured out what she was thinking.

"It would never happen," he stressed. "I'm my own man, Kitten. Nothing could ever tear me away from you."