Why was she staring at him like that?

Spike didn't have an answer, just knew it was bloody annoying. Ever since he'd gotten his soul back everyone looked at him strangely. Like they thought he might snap at any moment and start mimicking the dance moves for Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time". Not likely. It would be a hell of a show, but not likely.

He gave her a questioning eyebrow quirk but the dim girl didn't seem to catch on. Shrugging, he turned back to the microwave as it dinged. He opened the door and pulled out the hot mug, wincing as it burnt his hand. It would nice if they had some oven mitts around but that sod Andrew was always nicking them for nefarious purposes. Spike shuddered, best not to think too much about that.

"Spike"

He took a sip from the mug and turned back to the Slayer "Yeah?"

"...how...how are you?" She asked, trying for casual and failing.

Spike frowned, surprised at the question "Well. You know. Alright, s'pose. 'Cept for getting zapped by Anya, but I got over that"

"Yeah, about that..." Buffy leaned against the counter, eyes looking everywhere but at him "...uh, so, what do you remember?"

"Anya doing a spell in your bog, me walking in – the innocent party, I might add, and then boom –

Spike in orbit"

She smiled a little, nodding "And before that?"

He gave her a half shrug "What's this about?"

"Oh, nothing," She sighed "I guess we'll look into Willow fixing you"

The Slayer turned to go but he reached out and grabbed her arm. She turned back to him, surprised and if he wasn't mistaken, a little hopeful. Spike let go of her arm and shook his head reproachfully.

"Fixing me? I don't need fixing" He told her "Sure, I got a bit of a bruise on the noggin' but nothing a nice cup of blood won't fix"

Buffy opened her mouth, then closed it before trying again "You really don't remember, do you?"

"Slayer, you're making even less sense than the geek boy does"

The Slayer held her hands up "Okay. I don't want to alarm you here or anything but...you're in love with me"

Spike just looked at her. He tried to figure out in his mind if she, the Slayer, had really just said that to him. They were grudging allies, sure, and he didn't not like her if he was truthful but love? She'd gone barmy. Okay, he'd admit that she was pretty. Gorgeous even, if not a bit too skinny for his tastes. But if she put a bit of fat on her bones he might think about having a poke. Lust was one thing, though; love was an entirely different matter. Spike had never loved anyone other than Drusilla and his mother but it was better not to get into that.

Unless, of course, this was some bizarre way for the Slayer to tell him that she was in love with him. It made a strange kind of sense. The way she had been looking at him recently, how she kept him close to her in battle. Truth be told his memories of the recent past where a little blurry but he definitely remembered her being a little bit touchy feely with him. If this was the case then Spike was flattered. Perhaps he'd even rub it in Angelus' face the next time they crossed path. Tell him how his girl had finally acquired some taste when it came to men.

However, first he had to deal with the here and now.

"Look, Buffy," He placed his mug down on the counter and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to come off as sensitive as possibly "It's understandable. We work in close quarters, I do have a raw sex appeal but it's probably just a crush. Heaven knows, we'd make a rotten couple. Best if you just skip off with Harris or someone equally as...cuddly"

Buffy stared at him incredulously "Are...are you giving me the brush off?"

Spike sighed, patted her shoulder "It's hard to be on the wrong side of unrequited love, I imagine. You're a good looking girl; you'll find someone better suited to you. Now, if you'll excuse me I promised Dawn that I'd beat her at gin again"

The vampire picked up his mug of blood again and brushed past the Slayer. It had been one hell of day. First the spell malarkey and now the Slayer having a thing for him. Spike smiled to himself. I've still got it.

---------------------

Buffystood; arms folded looking at Willow with a death glare. The redhead witch looked back at her sympathetically but didn't wilt under the Slayer's gaze. They stood in Buffy's bedroom, or what had once been her bedroom, that now housed Faith. The brunette Slayer was sleeping like a baby, zonked out from almost getting blown up. It had to be a tough on a girl.

"That doesn't make any kind of sense!" Buffy stated, gesticulating wildly.

Willow shrugged "Well, that's magick for you"

"But why does Spike have to agree to have the spell reversed? He didn't agree to have it cast on him in the first place!"

"But the spell doesn't know that. Anya consciously performed the spell, and it just happened to leap into Spike. Magick can't differentiate like that. And an anti-anti-love spell always has to be performed by the person who was affected by the anti-love spell in the first place. Wait. Did that make sense?" Willow frowned.

"No!"

She sighed "Put it this way – if you willingly perform an anti-love spell you have to willingly perform a reversal of the spell too. So, Spike – being the subject of the spell – would have to undo the spell himself"

Buffy groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose "Are you sure you couldn't do it?"

"I'm sure," Willow replied "And even if it was possible...love spells are strong magick and with The First around, I wouldn't feel too chipper about doing it"

The Slayer nodded, resigned "I guess he's stuck like this then"

"Well, is that bad? I mean, he's still got the soul. He's still helping out. There are no downsides to the outcome of the spell"

Buffy looked at her "There are downsides for me"

Willow's eyes softened "There was a time when you'd have welcomed the 'Spike not loving you' with a parade. And cake."

"Yeah, well...that time has passed" She sat down on the edge of the bed careful not to squash Faith.

"So, maybe there's some reciprocation of the feelings?" Willow asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Buffy shook her head, smiling "Willow"

"Oh, come on Buffy. I'm your best friend, here. We haven't had a girly talk since...well, since forever. And you never talk about Spike. When Angel was around I couldn't get you to shut up about him. Same with Riley. It was all 'Angel said this', or 'Riley did that' blah di blah blah"

Buffy pouted "You never complained"

"And I'm not now," She assured her "It's just you're all withdrawn and un-Buffy-like"

She shrugged "I guess...I guess I just thought you didn't want to know. I mean, you guys have never liked Spike. With good reason. So, keeping things to myself seemed like a good idea"

Willow sat next to Buffy and smiled "Well, I'm all ears now. Not literally, thankfully, like that one demon we fought – remember?"

"Mr. Pieterson's English class. There were lobes flying everywhere. How could I forget?"

The witch's smile turned to a grin "So?"

"I don't know...I mean a part of me has always just kept the Spike stuff to myself because...because I wanted something for myself, you know?"

She nodded "Oh yeah. It started out with me and Tara like that. But, eventually, you have to come out of the closet, so to speak. Feelings can only stay bottled up for so long before they start popping corks and spraying...I'm going to stop right there"

Buffy laughed "There's my Willow. Always cheering me up in the face of gloominess"

"So, about Spike –"

Rona burst through the door without knocking, her braids flying around her "Buffy, we've got an emergency"

The Slayer jumped up "What is it? Is everyone okay?"

"Vi's eaten all the cookies"

A small voice could be heard shouting "I did not!"

Buffy rolled her eyes and turned to Willow "To be continued"

She walked out of the room and down the stairs to the battleground that was her living room.