A/N : Hate to tell you this guys, but this fic is almost over. Just a couple more chapters after this one and it'll be all done. So grateful for the support you all give me though, so thanks for that.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 21 - Everybody Knows

"So, what you're tellin' me, pet" Spike said with a smirk as he lay on his bed, his arm around Buffy who was snuggled up next to him, "is your mates have organised you a surprise party, and you already know about it?"

"Pretty much" she agreed, and her boyfriend laughed.

"Either you're a sneaky chit, Slayer, or your mates are bleedin' awful at keeping secrets" he told her.

"Kind of both" she admitted with a smile that soon disappeared when he spoke again.

"Ought to take lessons from you, luv" Spike commented, "After all, kept me your dirty little secret for long enough now"

He sounded almost hurt that she hadn't told her friends about the two of them, and yet Buffy couldn't imagine why he'd care. Neither of them understood how they'd even come to love each other, why either of them would wish to socialise with the others friends was beyond her.

"It's not as simple as you make it sound" she frowned as she looked up at him, "Why would you want my friends to know anyway? You can't care about them?"

"Course I bloody don't" Spike scoffed, "What bothers me is that you're so worried what they'll think of you if you tell the bleedin' truth!" he told her, voice raised slightly as he got a little annoyed.

"Well, hello!" Buffy gasped as she sat up fast, his arms sliding away from her body, "Did you forget you're a vampire? And they think you're dead, as in dusty type dead. They didn't approve of Angel and me getting close, they'd all go crazy if they knew I was in love with someone like you!" she yelled.

"You think it's a walk in the soddin' park for me!" Spike shouted back, getting to his feet, clearly not happy, "I've had demons, other vampires, all kinds, tracking me down, wanting to say their piece, take a lump out of the traitor, the stupid sod who's aligned hismelf with the bleedin' enemy!" he told her angrily.

"I didn't ask for this" Buffy pointed out, also standing up and facing her boyfriend toe to toe, "I didn't ask you to love me, I never wanted things to be like this!"

"And you think I bloody did!" he shot back at her, "Think I came here plannin' to make myself a Nancy boy for the latest Chosen One? You're off your bleedin' bird, Slayer!"

"Y'know what? Maybe I am crazy" she said, hating that she had to fight tears as she spoke, "but at least when I'm with you I'm happy" she told him, "I feel more happy, and comfortable and alive when I'm with you than with anybody else, and what scares me more than loving you is losing you" she was crying by now, tears pouring down her face, and it broke Spike's undead heart to see it.

Without a word he pulled her into his arms and she cried all over him, making a steadily growing wet patch on his T-shirt.

"Silly bint" he mumbled against the hair, planting a kiss on the top of her head, "Never gonna lose me, luv, I swear it" he told her, "I tried not loving you, it can't be done. Reckon you're stuck with me for good"
"Good" Buffy sniffed as she looked up at him, "Cos I think you might just be stuck with me for good too" she forced a smile, as he moved in closer and kissed her lips.

"Dunno how this is ever gonna work out, Slayer" Spike sighed when they parted, "but I can't be without you"

"It'll work" Buffy told him, "We'll make it work, starting right now" she decided all of a sudden. She took his hand in hers and dragged him with her towards the door.

"Where the bloody hell are we going now?" Spike frowned as he grabbed his coat off the bed as he was taken over to the door and out into the cold night air.

"My party" she said simply as if it were obvious, "My Mom told me to be home by seven because she was making a meal with a cake and everything, but like I told you, I already know it's a party and that the whole gang will be there" she explained as she practically dragged the vampire towards her home, "It's the most perfect opportunity to show them you're back, and that we're together"

"Buffy, wait a second, luv" Spike urged her, pulling her to a halt, "Think about this. Not only are you givin' your little mates a free shot at you and your taste in fellas, but any one of them could decide to take a shot at me" he told her, "Not that yours truly can't defend himself but I don't think you really want me bringing your friends down"

"That so will not happen" Buffy assured him, "They want to fight with you, they come through me, and they are not going to try that" she said firmly, a small part of her questioning her own words, wondering if Xander or maybe Giles would take this badly, after all they had been most against her friendship with Angel, and this was a much bigger deal.

"Oh, she's coming everybody" Joyce told the assembled Scoobies, unsure what to make of the fact that Buffy was bringing a young man home, especially one who looked like he fell out of a magazine article about the seventies punk movement. Now of course was not the time to be getting into that particular train of thought as she joined the others in their various hiding places around the living room, the lights having already been turned off.

The door soon clicked open and the couple came inside. The second Buffy was in sight her friends and family leapt out from their respective hiding places, grinning over the fact they'd surprised her, until they realised they'd actually had the bigger shock.

"Oh my God" Willow gasped at the sight of Spike, larger than life and, well, perhaps not as frightening as she might once have thought, after all he was holding Buffy's hand and looking a little awkward, which was not exactly threatening.

"What the hell!" was Xander's response as Cordelia and Giles also looked on in shock, and Joyce and Oz could only be confused since they had no idea who this man was, other than probably Buffy's latest boyfriend.

"Hey guys" the Slayer smiled as if the situation were completely normal, "Wow, you really worked hard on the party thing" she congratulated them as she looked around at all the decorations, the presents laid out on the coffee table, and the food on the other table further down the room, "Although I guess I should admit, I kinda knew" she said awkwardly, hand still gripped tightly in Spike's own.

"Buffy, sweetheart" Joyce spoke up when no-one else seemed eager, "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" she asked her daughter, who never got a chance to answer.

"We've already met him" Xander said nastily, "We thought he was dead"

Joyce went ashen at the idea that this young man who clearly meant so much to her daughter had died and yet she'd never mentioned a word. She hated there were so many secrets between herself and her little girl, it made her feel as if she were a terrible mother.

"He means dead, as in dead to me, history, gone from my life" Buffy nervously explained to her Mom, "Not actually dead, because hey, how crazy would that be?" she said with laugh, glaring at her brunette friend. Of course she couldn't entirely blame him for his reaction but he knew how hard this much be for her and how awkward it was to have her mother present, since her parents knew nothing of her vampire slaying destiny.

"Okay" Joyce nodded slowly, "I'm sure you'll explain it to me later, honey" she said with a look that said it wasn't an optional thing, "In the meantime, I'm very pleased to meet you, er..." she said as she looked at Spike and realised no name had yet been given for the young man who on closer inspection was really very attractive.

"William" he told her, "Though my mates tend to call me Spike" he explained.

"Okay, Spike" she said, not sure whether she liked the sound of that or not, "Would you like to help me fetch some drinks for everybody?" she asked him and with a smirk in Buffy's direction, he nodded, following the kindly looking woman towards the kitchen.

"I don't think..." Giles began, standing in Spike's way.

"Let him go, Giles" Buffy told him firmly, the look on her face telling him not to argue against a girl with the power she had. With a regretful look he moved and let the vampire pass to follow Joyce into the kitchen.

"Okay, what the hell is happening here?" Cordelia exploded, "Did we just enter Bizarro World?"

"Cordelia what are you even doing here?" Buff wanted to know, already becoming frustrated by the girl and she'd only asked the one question so far.

"I think the real question is, what the hell is Spike doing here!" Xander started yelling then realised the bleached blond and Joyce were only in the next room and decreased his volume somewhat, "He was dead, Buff, so what gives?"

"He wasn't dead" she explained with a sigh, "Not dust anyway... I went back to the church and I pulled him out from the rubble. I took him some place safe and I've been caring for him"

The expression on Willow's face told her she was at least partly on her side and found the whole thing to be perfectly sweet and romantic, however there was an underlying fear that the red-head needed to voice, seeming to have forgotten she had brought Oz to the party, who knew nothing of the Slayer and her enemies.

"But Buffy, he's a vampire" she reminded her friend, "He doesn't even have a soul, and he lied to you before. Doesn't that make him pretty dangerous?"

"Extremely so" Giles cut in, "Buffy, what on Earth were you thinking?"

"Well, maybe I wasn't thinking" she said, tears forming in her eyes as she faced her Watcher, "Maybe I was too busy falling in love" she admitted, stunning the assembled group even further.

In the brief silence that followed, Oz leant in close to Willow and whispered in her ear.

"Is this some kind of party game I don't get or are vampires real?" he checked.

She opened her mouth to give some reply when Joyce and Spike returned from the kitchen, laughing and joking like old friends as they carried a small tray of drinks each.

"Well, this doesn't look much like a party" Buffy's mother commented with a slight frown, "Whatever's the matter, sweetheart?" she asked her daughter who was fighting further tears and attempting to quickly wipe away those that had already fallen.

"Nothing" she said as Spike moved quickly to her side and put his arms around her, "Just, I don't have as many friends as I thought I did" she sniffed as the vampire glared at the rest of the assembled group. He knew all the Slayer wanted was for her friends to understand if only a little bit about how she felt. Seemed they couldn't even do that.

"We're still your friends, Buff" Xander told her, "but that thing..."

"That thing, as you call him, is my boyfriend!" Buffy said, becoming angry about his righteous attitude, "Not that I expect you to understand, how could you!"

"Oh, he could" Spike told her, still shooting nasty looks at the brunette, "After all, him and the rich bitch here want each other so much you can smell it a mile away" he smirked, "and considering the fact their scent is all over each other even now, reckon they've been doin' more than making party preparations today"

The gang were too stunned by the revelation of Cordy and Xander to pay full attention to Buffy and Spike for a moment. The blonde swiftly grabbed her boyfriends hand and made for the door. They were gone before anybody had a chance to stop them.

"Would somebody please explain to me what on Earth is going on?" Joyce asked the remaining group. Nobody was forthcoming with information.

Buffy had been angry from the front door of her home to the top of Revello Drive, then the real tears had started. Spike had tried to comfort her, and walked her back to the warehouse that was currently his home, by which time the Slayer had run out of sobs and wails and was just happy to be close to the man she loved as they sat down on the edge of the bed together and hugged each other tight.

"I'm so sorry" she said, words muffled against his chest, "I wanted it to be okay"

"Was never gonna be as simple as all that, pet" Spike told her, dropping a kiss on the top if her head, "Your mates, they can't understand this. Think how long it took us to get our heads round the concept"

"I know" Buffy sighed, "I know you're right but... I guess I just wish you weren't. I wish things were simple and normal"

"Define normal" Spike challenged her as she glanced up at him.

"Just... normal" she shrugged, "You and me being what we look like we are, regular High School kids in love"

"Don't reckon you could pass me off as a High School goer, luv" Spike smirked.

"Okay so a High School girl and her College guy boyfriend" she smiled back at him, "No Slayer or vampire stuff, no complications, just you and me, simple, in love" she smiled, liking the idea of her little dreamworld.

"'S a nice fantasy, pet" Spike agreed, "but the world doesn't work that way" he told her, gently pushing some lose strands of hair from her tear-stained cheek, "'S gotta have it's ups and downs, it's good and evil, we can't change that"

"I know" she sighed, eyes dropping to the floor as her dream slipped away and left her sad and wanting of the world.

"Hey" Spike said as he lifted her chin with his fingers and made her look him in the eye, "I bloody love you" he said forcefully, "Up until an hour ago that was what mattered"

"It does, of course it does" Buffy assured him, "Sometimes it's the only thing that does" she said softly as they both seemed to notice just how close they were right now.

When their lips met it was as if a new kind of magic sparked between them. They were so very much in love and if the rest of the world fell away to nothing right now neither of them would care, they doubted they'd even notice.

They laid down on the bed together, hands and lips exploring each others bodies as love exploded between them. This was different to any other time they'd gone this far and Buffy already knew she was happy to take the big step she'd been so afraid of before. Spike loved her, she was more sure of that fact than anything else right now. Experience wouldn't be important, and he wouldn't leave her in the morning, she was sure. This was love and it was forever, she wasn't about to stop it from happening, it felt too good and right.

To Be Continued...