A/N :Apologies for the slight delay in updating! If anyone was wondering, there are still a few chapters to go!
(For disclaimer, etc. - chapter 1)

Chapter 24

"Yeah, sure, okay... and that's definite? Right then" Spike spoke into his cellphone, sitting on the edge of the stage at the Bronze with the band, plus Buffy, Willow, Doyle, and Cordelia all gathered around him. It was lucky really that he wasn't claustrophobic!

"Okay, thanks, bye" he was grinning when he ended the call and turned to his friends.

"So? What'd he say, man?" Faith was eager to know.

"Didn't speak to the head honcho himself" Spike shook his head, "but his PA or whatever she was knew who I was and why I was callin'" he explained.

"C'mon, man, don't keep us hangin' here" Doyle urged his friend.

"Lorne wants us in LA for an audition next weekend" he announced at last, reaching for an over-excited Buffy and pulling her close.

"Spike that's so great" she enthused as he almost squeezed the life out of her he held her so tight.

"It's like a dream" Xander shook his head, almost unable to believe what was happening, "Maybe it is a dream" he said suddenly looking less than thrilled, "Oh God, it is, I'm dreaming again"

Faith reached over and pinched him hard on the arm making him yelp.

"You ain't dreamin'" she announced, as the assembled group laughed, and Xander joined in, now convinced this was reality.

"We should celebrate" Willow suggested, "Get dressed up, go someplace nice"

"Sweetie, we haven't done anything yet" Oz told her, "It's just an audition, it could all come to nothing"

"Or it could come to something" Cordy threw in her opinion, "I mean, maybe your music isn't my kind of thing but Lorne wouldn't even give you an audition if he didn't think you could make the big time, right?"

"Makes sense to me, princess" her boyfriend agreed, his arm firmly around her waist, "but how come you knew who Lorne was if Buffy here didn't?"

"Oh" she said, eyes going to the floor for a second, and if the gang didn't know better they'd swear they saw her blush.

"Yeah, that is weird" her old friend agreed, "How'd you know, Cor?" Buffy checked and the brunette sighed before explaining.

"I used to date a guy who was into music" she shrugged, "It's no big"

"Did Lorne audition him?" Willow asked curiously and Cordy nodded.

"Yeah, and it was so cool" she enthused, "He took me along with him, said I was his good luck charm, but I didn't bring him enough luck that day so he dumped me"

"He failed the audition with Lorne and blamed you?" Buffy frowned, "What a loser"

"He really was" Cordy agreed, "I mean, hello, who mimes to a tape of another guys voice in a big audition like that, and leaves the cable to the tape player right where a person wants to tap their feet?"

That caused the whole group to bust up laughing at the very idea of a person thinking they'd get away with such a trick with someone like Lorne, and the way Cordelia had messed up the loser's chances was highly amusing.

"Not that I plan on cheating my way to success" Spike said when he'd stopped chuckling, "But p'haps you could stay away from our audition, pet"

"Well, duh!" Cordy rolled her eyes, "Somebody's got to be here running this place whilst you and Buffy disappear back to LA next weekend. I guess that'll be me and Doyle"

"If that's okay with you guys, it'd really help me out" the blonde told them and of course they agreed immediately.

"Tonight was so much fun" Buffy was grinning as Spike walked her to her door. Deciding Willow's idea was a good one the whole gang had gotten dressed up and gone out to dinner to celebrate The Chosen's upcoming audition with Lorne.

"Could be about to get more fun" he told her with a smirk, as he pinned her to the door and kissed her hungrily.

"What exactly are you suggesting, Mr Blackstone?" she asked with faux-innocence when they parted slightly.

"Well..." he said thoughtfully, leaning in close and whispering his intentions in her ear. Her eyes went wide at his words, and she gasped as his lips moved from her ear and attacked her neck. Her hand fumbled to get the door open and they practically fell into her apartment, Spike kicking the door shut behind them, before being happily dragged to his girlfriends bedroom where they lay down together, promises of affection and devotion passing between them in words and actions combined as they made passionate love.

"That is so never going to get boring" Buffy sighed afterwards as she snuggled up next to her man. Spike only smiled, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.

"Don't reckon things could get any better than this" he told her, unable to shift the grin from his face, "Couple of times I was havin' serious thoughts about jackin' the whole lot in and leavin SunnyD, y'know?"

"Really?" Buffy checked, looking somewhat alarmed as she glanced up at him.

"Once or twice" he admitted as he looked her in the eye, "Bloody near killed me, you bein' with that git Angel and messin' around, making me jealous. I love you so damn much, hated that I did, hated you just a little bit for making me feel like that..."

"I'm sorry" she said guiltily and he rolled his eyes.

"Will you stop bloody doing that?" he said with a shake of his head, "The apology bit's gone stale, pet, and it's not why I'm telling you this" he assured her, "I know you're sorry, so am I. Wish I'd just been bleedin' honest from the start, wish we both had then maybe neither of us would've suffered" he said thoughtfully, "But my point is, we've come through all that, and look at us now" he smiled, "The Bronze is as popular as ever, The Chosen have an audition with the biggest guy in music since God only knows when, and you and me... Buffy, that's the most amazing thing to come out of all of this"

"You don't have to tell me" she smiled back at him, "I never expected anything like this to happen when my Dad bought me The Bronze" she admitted, "Until then I was just happy to be engaged to Angel and play the dutiful daughter. I thought my life was pretty much perfect" she laughed at how stupid she'd been before, "Now I know how wrong I was" she whispered as her hand went to his his face and she pulled his closer til they were kissing, their hunger for each other taking over once again.

Spike awoke, alone in an unfamiliar bed, and frowned as he sat up and looked around. Buffy's bedroom, in her own apartment, of course he remembered the beautiful night they'd shared, but he wondered why he'd woken up without her. Just as he was about to go and investigate, the bedroom door opened and Buffy came in, a steaming mug in each hand.

"Hey" she smiled, "I made coffee" she told him as she approached the bed, wobbling slightly and almost spilling the drinks.

"Come on, pet" Spike urged her, taking the mugs from her hands and setting them on the nightstand, "Get back in here, you must be bloody freezing" he told her, since she was wearing only his own abandoned T-shirt from the night before.

"I'm okay" she assured him, though she was in fact quite cold, having spent an hour in the bathroom, feeling nauseous and actually throwing up before she actually made it to the kitchen to fix their drinks. Only half of her shaking was from the chilly morning air, the rest being caused by how ill she still felt.

"You know it's only six in the morning?" Spike frowned as he spotted the clock on the nightstand and red the glowing red figures it displayed.

"I didn't notice" Buffy admitted, that being true at least. She'd been in such a hurry to throw up she really hadn't taken any notice at all of the time, but with the daylight increasing by the time she emerged from the bathroom she'd figured it was morning and she may as well make coffee. At the very least it might make her feel more awake and remove the disgusting taste from her mouth.

"Oh well, seeing as we're awake" Spike smirked, leaning in to kiss her. Buffy turned her head so his lips brushed her ear instead.

"Not right now, Spike" she said, turning in his embrace to lean her back against him, "Can't we just snuggle, and y'know talk?" she suggested, knowing the way she felt right now she couldn't handle sex.

"Course, luv" he told her, though it wasn't what he really wanted to do. He pulled her close and dropped a kiss on the top of her head, "You sure you're alright?" he checked, wondering why she seemed so different this morning compared to last night.

"Uh-huh" Buffy lied, hating herself for it but already worried about the truth of the situation, "I just, I can't do that right now"

"Oh right, got it" Spike nodded, though of course she couldn't see that. She knew how wrong he'd taken her sentence, so far from that particular womanly reason being her excuse, she believed it was the complete opposite that was happening to her. Had it really been over a month since her last cycle? If it was, and she factored in her sickness this morning, a condition that had plagued her for a couple of weeks now, though infrequently, surely that could only mean one thing.

"Can't stop thinkin' about this bloody audition" her boyfriend interrupted her thoughts with his delighted tone, "Half thrilled, half bleedin' petrified if I'm honest"

"Mm-hmm" Buffy answered absently, not really hearing what else he said as her mind went into over-drive.

"I was thinkin' about the material, what song we should do for Lorne. Could go with somethin' older, somethin' we all know off by heart and can't screw up..."

Buffy and Spike had only just recently got together, it was a little early to be dropping massive bombshells, expecting huge commitment...

"But I thought maybe one of the newer tunes'd make a bigger impact, after all practice makes perfect, which means my writin' ought to be better these days..."

At least she knew for sure that Angel was out of the picture. She and her ex hadn't made love for many weeks, and they'd always used condoms anyway...

"I ought to talk to the band about it. Welcome to the Hellmouth seems like an obvious choice, or Lie To Me..."

It had to be that night in the office at The Bronze, the night Buffy had regretted in many ways and yet wouldn't trade the memory of for anything else in the world. Nobody had ever made her feel quite like Spike did that night and since...

"But then the crowd loved Smashed & Wrecked, even if it was a touch on the depressive side..."

It seemed entirely possible that whilst he was making her feel like a Goddess, he was also making her a mother, and himself a father. Now he was fantasising about the rock career he and The Chosen might have if only Lorne decided they were good enough...

"What do you think, pet?"

A baby wouldn't fit into the world Spike dreamt of, so how on Earth was Buffy supposed to shatter his dreams of stardom by telling his she was pregnant?

"I don't know" she said softly, a perfect answer to both his question and her own silent one, "I really don't know"

To Be Continued...