Buffy grunted, annoyed. Why did demons seem to follow her everywhere? Even on dates. Didn't she deserve a night off once in a while? The scaly thing stepping out of the pond and onto the ground didn't seem to think so. It hissed at her, oddly catlike, and sprang towards her. She noted its fingers were webbed as she jumped over the back of the bench and felt it slam into the place she had been sitting moments before.

Spike remained on the bench as he wrapped an arm around the things neck and attempted to choke the life out of it. The demon flopped about wildly and kicked up a webbed foot, striking the vampire hard in the face. He toppled to the ground, releasing the fishy guy.

Buffy sighed and vaulted back over the bench to land on the ground in front of the demon. It hissed again and ran at her. She rolled her eyes and sidestepped it, shoving it in the back as it went past. The demon careened head first into the bench this time, snapping the wood and half emerging from the other side of it. As it struggled to free itself Buffy grabbed it by its icky webby feet and yanked it clear, dragging it unceremoniously across the ground.

She was unprepared for it to flip up in the air, regardless of her hold on it, and knock her unbalanced. The Slayer stumbled backwards and fell to her ass on the muddy bank. Buffy was so busy bemoaning the indignity of it all that she barely paid attention to Spike jumping on the demons back and riding it buckaroo style.

Standing up and attempting to brush herself clean, she readied herself when the demon threw him off and came at her again. She aimed a kick at its head but the demon saw it coming and grabbed her foot, using immense strength to actually lift her off the ground and swing her through the air, letting go at the last second.

Buffy sailed through the air, yelling, and splashed into the murky pond.

Spluttering loudly she broke the surface of the pond, still stunned. It was deeper than it looked, coming up to mid-chest on her. And now she was drenched in stinky, dirty pond water and she swore something was brushing against her feet. Wiping water from her eyes she swam towards the bank where Spike was grappling with the demon. Buffy doubted this night could get any more humiliating as she had to drag herself up out of the pond, across the wet soil, using only some handy clumps of grass. Tendrils of pondweed snaked up her ankles and stuck in the heels of her boots.

The Slayer stood slowly and shook her hair, which was now stuck to her face in ratty, wet clumps. She found herself trying to remember if her mascara was waterproof or not. A quick touch of her cheeks told her that, no, it wasn't. Huffing she strode towards the demon as it was preoccupied with fighting Spike.

She lashed her foot out to kick it in the back of the knee, driving it to the ground. Then Buffy grabbed its head in both hands and twisted sharply. The loud pop echoed throughout the clearing for a moment and then the body fell to the floor.

Buffy turned away from Spike's roving eyes and the barely suppressed grin on his face. God, my life blows. She gathered her hair into a tail and squeezed as much of the remaining water out of it that she could. Her clothes were sodden and she was freezing, the night air all the harsher now.

Spike trudged around in front of her and opened his mouth to speak.

"Do. Not. Even." She warned him. "Not a word."

He looked down at her and pointed to her chest. "Well, alright, but I was going to tell you about that"

Looking down she saw that her top had gone pretty much see-through. Buffy quickly folded her arms over her breasts and was glad she had worn a bra. Small mercies.

"Great. This has just been the best date ever!" she snarled, stomping towards the exit of the park.

Spike jogged up after her. "We need to get you somewhere warm. Any one of the abandoned houses will do. Since everyone up sticks and left Sunnydale."

She frowned at him. "No. I'm going home."

"And have everyone see you touting the drowned rat look?"

"Thanks." Buffy scowled, and then paused. "It is a ten minute walk back to the house. I guess I could do with cleaning up."

Spike nodded once and accompanied her out of the park. A group of teenagers were milling around outside the entrance and upon seeing her let out a cacophony of wolf-whistles and laughter. Buffy felt her cheeks flame red and wanted to slay all of them. Spike vamped out instead and growled at them causing them to all run away screaming. Buffy gave him a grateful look and they carried on up the street.

The first house they came to looked dark and uninviting. Spike couldn't hear any heartbeats coming from inside and decided that no one was living there, unless they were dead which still meant they weren't living there.

Spike kicked the door open and stepped over the threshold confirming that no one occupied the house any longer. Buffy followed him in and immediately searched for the bathroom whilst Spike disappeared into another part of the house.

Once she had found the room she closed the door behind her and stripped off the wet clothes, glad to rid of them. The water in the shower would only come out cold and Buffy stood there shivering underneath it as she attempted to get all the weed off of her. By the time she was done there was a ring of brown scum around the drain hole. The Slayer grimaced at it and stepped out of the shower, drying herself off with a towel and then wrapping it tightly around her collarbone. She looked around the bathroom for a comb but couldn't find one.

Looking in the mirror Buffy wondered if perhaps this day had been karma for all the crap she had put everyone through lately. If so, karma sucked.

Spike knocked on the door suddenly, nearly making her jump out of her skin. Making sure the towel was secure she opened the door and peeked out.

"Got you some clothes." He held up a pile in his hands. "Not exactly this seasons must haves but it's all there was."

Buffy nodded and took the garments from him before shutting the door again. She quickly slipped the clothes on, not exactly ecstatic at the thought of how she would look in grey jogging sweats that were both too long and too loose on her and a dark blue UC Sunnydale sweater that was ripped underneath the arm in what Buffy assumed was some attempt to ventilate sweaty armpits. Or maybe she was just in a bitchy mood.

Combing her fingers through her hair as best she could, the Slayer stepped out of the bathroom and ventured into the living room. Spike was crouched on the floor in front of the fireplace, tending to the burning logs. Just as she was about to ask how he even lit the fire he flicked his metal lighter closed and tucked it into his pocket.

The room was sparse and by sparse, she meant it was empty. Devoid of any furniture or any sign of life apart from a pile of blankets on the floor that she assumed Spike had gathered, and the slightly lighter patches on the walls where photographs had once been displayed.

Spike turned, sensing her there and looked her up and down. "What a pretty picture you make."

Buffy shot him the finger and he laughed as he stood up, blanket in hand. Instead of just offering it to her like she assumed he would, Spike unfurled it and wrapped it around her shoulders himself. Her eyes flickered up to watch his face as his hands lingered on her arms for a moment longer than loved-up-and-souled-up Spike would have even considered. Then he took a step back, blinked, and motioned towards the fire.

Buffy exhaled deeply and sat down on the rest of the blankets he spread across the floor. Spike hesitated a moment before sitting next to her. The heat from the fire made her feel a little better even if she did still look like a homeless person. Even so…the whole 'in an abandoned house in front of a roaring fire' deal was hopelessly romantic. She knew it was the kind of thing Mills and Boon would approve of.

Stealthily, Buffy peeked at Spike from the corner of her eye. He was staring at her and she averted said eye quickly.

Spike spoke softly, "So, what now?"