A/N: Inspired by Eurielle's "By a Thread"
The stars shown bright in the cold midnight sky, a picturesque view framed by the slowly swaying branches of the tall pine trees. Buffy lay there in complete peace. This is what she had been missing. She lay on her back in a meadow of grass and wildflowers, her honey blonde hair fanned out around her head in a halo and her legs loose and relaxed as her arms were just slightly spread out away from her body. The slightest brush of his fingers against hers assured her that she wasn't alone in this moment. It was their moment. So similar to that last night in Sunnydale.
He laid in a similar pose to her, relaxed, content just barely touching. A calm moment in their stormy lives. High above their heads a bat fluttered in the moonlight and she's tempted to disrupt the quiet with a vampire joke. She doesn't. A nearly imperceptible shiver rocked her small frame. He noticed. He always noticed.
The blades of grass shifted, bending to allow him passage, as he curled around her. She turned on her side, they were facing each other now. Her hand, almost of it's own volition, reached up to caress his face. Hazel green eyes drank in his features, sharp cheekbones that a model would kill for, the most beautiful ocean blue eyes. Whether stormy or calm she always drowned in those eyes. She watched them move over her own face, memorizing her.
She melted into him, her head falling against his chest, her legs entwining with his. His arms gathered her up, holding her tightly to him as his chin came to a rest on the top of her head. "I missed you," she murmured, almost without sound. If he had been human he wouldn't have heard her. "I always miss you."
He whispered her name, over and over again. Almost as though it were a prayer. "I missed you too, luv," he replied, just as quietly. She sighed against him and memorized every moment she had with him, as though it would be their last. Every unnecessary breath he took, every subtle shift of his body.
Outside their perfect little bubble a storm was raging, in their lives there was always a storm on the horizon. They ebbed and flowed. Rose and fell. Always trying to tear them apart. His arms tightened around her again as though he knew her thoughts. He probably did.
"Are you still mine?" she asked him, raising her head to look him in the eyes again.
"Always," he whispered.
"I'm yours," she told him. The first time she'd ever recognized that simple little fact. What better place than here in their perfect little bubble.
He smiled softly and dropped a kiss to her forehead. "You're beautiful," he told her. And she knew that even now, even here, he doesn't quite believe her. She doesn't push.
She doesn't know how long she laid there in his embrace, it could never be long enough. The stars started to lose their shine and the moons gleam slowly faded as the first hint of light made itself known. She released a gentle sigh and reluctantly pulled away. She shifted to her back and so did he. Her hair was fanned out in a halo around her head as her legs stretched out and her arms spread just wide enough that her fingers brushed against his.
High above them the trees swayed in the gentle breeze as the stars were slowly snuffed out to make way for the impending dawn. In the distance they heard an owl hoot as it settled back in for the day. His fingers curled ever so slightly around hers in just the faintest embrace.
She awoke in the same place she fell asleep. Alone. Cold. In her room halfway across the world from the place she'd called home. Closing her eyes she tried to conjure and image of him, heart breaking further as she realized that his sharp features were fading from her memory. The only time he was clear, there, real, was in her dreams.
A single tear escaped her eye before she locked them away for another day. Already she found herself anxiously awaiting the night. Hoping that this hadn't been the last one.
She forced herself to rise and open her curtains. The sun was already high in the sky and she could here the bustling of life beyond her door. She scrubbed at her face and prepared herself to reenter the world. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes once more and she knew that she could get through at least one more day, his smirk was still there, just barely. By a thread.
