Still not owning anything useful.

Chapter 10

Clark and Chloe were lying back in the bed of the pickup truck, looking up into the night sky. Clark had called his folks earlier and told them what was happening. They all agreed that if he could help, he had to do it. He made sure they knew he loved them once more, just in case. Now he was spending his time with the girl he… was it love? He had always felt something deep for Chloe, it just took him too long to realize what was really there for him.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Clark looked over, seeing Chloe's smiling face, glowing softly in the moonlight. He decided to go for it.

"Chloe, there's a chance this won't go well tomorrow. And I have to say something to you, something I've been too stupid to see for a long time. I love you Chloe."

Chloe smiled, reaching out and tucking a strand of his shaggy hair behind his ear. "What took you so long?"

"I'm a big dumb alien according to a good friend of mine."

Chloe laughed. "Yeah, but you're kinda cute too." She leaned in, kissing him softly. "I love you too Clark."

They stayed there for hours, talking, holding each other. If it was the last of their time on this world, they were gonna be happy.

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Spike was downstairs staring at the amulet he was given. It looked like something you could pick up from any gaudy pawn shop, but there was a feeling to it. It almost hummed in his hand. He didn't even hear someone coming down the stairs until they were right in front of him. He looked up into the solemn face of the Slayer. "Hullo, luv. What brings you down here?"

Buffy kneeled down in front of him on one knee, laying her hands on his. "I love you."

Spike dropped the amulet, feeling the heavy stone land on his leg. He couldn't move, couldn't blink. He just stared at her.

She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry it's taken me so long. I have for a long time, I was just afraid Spike."

Finally blinking, he looked away. "Yeah. I get it, what would your friends think, you havin' feelings for a think like me?"

She tilted his face back to hers. "No. I wasn't scared of what they would think of me." She sighed, taking a deep breath. "I was afraid of what you would think of me."

He could hear her voice cracking as she said it, and he couldn't believe what he heard. "How can you say that? You know how I feel about you Buffy."

"There's a big difference between how you feel and what you think about me Spike. After everything I've done to you in the past, the things I've said, how I've treated you… I don't deserve how you feel." She had her face buried in her arms now, crying.

Spike leaned down, pulling her up with him. "Buffy, don't say that. I didn't deserve it then, I still don't. I'm a monster Buffy, there's nothing that can change that. You deserve so much better than I'll ever be able to give you, I realize that now."

Clutching his shirt, Buffy looked into his eyes. "No. Don't say that, don't ever let me hear you say that. You're a good man, Spike."

"I'm not a man Buffy."

"Yes you are! You have been for a long time, I've just been too stupid. You dedicated so much to me, to this cause, to all of us, and you didn't have to. You could have left, gone off and wreaked havoc. You'd have figured out how to do it somehow. But you stayed, you stayed with me. Even when I was dead, you stayed. That's more than my own father ever did for me Spike!" She reached up, twisting his face to look back in hers. "I didn't deserve any of it, and you still gave me all of you. Even when I was using you, you just wanted to help me somehow, help me feel. If sex was all you wanted, would you have kept trying to win my heart?"

Spike didn't say a word, he was afraid to try to talk.

"I love you Spike. I love you, I swear I do, and I'll spend however long it takes to make you see it."

Spike had to chuckle a little at that. "Luv, we might not have any time beyond tomorrow."

She kissed him softly. "Then go ahead and accept it. Don't make me haunt you."

They sat there together, arms wrapped around each other. Neither moved for hours, relishing the closeness and the person they were with

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Clark walked downstairs into the basement. They had fallen asleep outside, and it was a few hours until dawn now. As he lay down slowly on the cot, he noticed that Spike was indeed awake, an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Spike? You awake?"

"Yup."

"Everything ok?"

"Bloody perfect mate, thanks for asking."

Clark couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "Uh… ok then." Laying back down, Clark kicked his boots off, the thump of them falling to the floor filling the room.

Spike sniffed the air, catching something that hadn't been there before. "Farm Boy? When did you start wearing banana lip gloss?"

Clark's breath hitched, making Spike chuckle. "Has someone been less than gentlemanly with a certain fair haired lady we both know? What would Mrs. Kent say!" he added jokingly.

"Well, when I talked to them tonight, it was something like 'It's about time, glad you got your head out of your butt' and mom added something about farm boys and city girls."

Spike laughed loudly.

Clark looked over. "Hey Spike. Why did I run into Buffy in the doorway right when I came down here?"

"Go to sleep Farm Boy, you're too young for such things." Spike went to put the cigarette back in the pack when it burst into burning embers immediately. He tossed it to the floor, waving his hand. "Dammit! That wasn't funny, you coulda really hurt someone there!"

Clark laughed so hard he almost fell off the cot. Just as he righted himself Spike kicked it, sending him sprawling down. "Payback is shite, isn't it Farm Boy?" With that, he snuggled up to the pillow, and tried to get some rest before the big day started.

End Chapter 10