When he'd moved back to England that year, Giles had expected his life to return to something somewhat normal. Back at the Watcher's Council, back in his old family home, no longer assigned his own Slayer to look after… Looking around the room, he was grateful for how wrong he'd been. Xander was teasing Willow about her date, pulling her hair as she batted him away like they were in preschool. Andrew was watching them awkwardly, trying to join in on the jokes, but barely being noticed by the pair. Spike and Buffy were similarly engrossed in each other; she rested her head on his chest as he leaned into the armchair, absentmindedly stroking her hair while they both stared at their intertwined hands, lost in thought. If they are trying to make sense of that particular relationship, it could take days…

"Please, if you could all return your focus to the present moment, we do have a lot to discuss…" Giles gently cleared his throat, trying to recover the attention of the highly distracted group of remaining Scoobies.

"By 'all', I hope you also mean me." Dawn huffed, plopping onto the arm of the sofa beside Willow, frustrated by nearly being left out of another discussion.

"Yes, of course Dawn…" Giles placated her before continuing, clearing his throat again and pausing until Spike and Buffy finally turned to look at him as well.

"So, as you all are aware, we have much more information now than we had before. Angel has decided that he would do better to keep his ear to the ground elsewhere, as he is still famous in some circles, to see if he can locate the place that this witch is hiding. We are also quite certain she has backup of some kind, as is evidenced by the blacked-out car she tried to drag Willow into…"

"-So, vampire then?" Xander cut in. "Who else would do that?"

"Could be to block out the identity of the person… I mean, they just sped off, they didn't even try to help." Willow shrugged. "It did kinda look like Spike's crappy old car though..."

Spike barely registered the barb. He knew why the companion wouldn't have joined the fray; he'd picked up her scent, it was all over the witch… God only knows what that crazy bitch would've done, if Buffy had gone to me, if she thought we were…

He was shaken out if his thoughts by the realization that all eyes were on him. Clearly, the lack of one of his usual sarcastic retorts was uncommon enough to be suspect.

"You okay?" Buffy nudged him gently, worried by his silence. Avoiding her eyes, he stood, pacing nervously back and forth, trying to get up his nerve to confess what he worried was fully capable of starting a fight that he feared very much would spell the end of his happiness. He'd been shocked at how easy it had been with her so far, at least compared to how things had been in the past. He couldn't help but think anything could end it for him, it seemed too good to be true…

"Right," he closed his eyes, not wanting to look at Buffy. "So, the night we got here, me and Slayer and the ponce… I caught a bit of scent walking back from these two's flat, and I found some poor girl, all gashed up… I know how this sounds, but believe me, I'd know… it was Dru. Drusilla. The girl must've managed to grab a piece of her clothes or something… her scent was all over the cloth, and the girl… and the witch, when I met that little lovely today. I don't know how or why, but she's involved in this."

Opening his eyes, he was relieved for a moment that Buffy didn't seem to share the looks of horror and confusion covering the faces of everyone else in the room. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she looked… guilty? But why would she be? I'm the one who should've told her this right away...

"I'm sorry, Spike." Buffy whispered, knowing she hardly had to speak for him to hear her. "I didn't know."

"You didn't know what?" He leaned closer to her, curious and confused. "What is it you're sorry for, love?"

"I should've trusted you. I found this lace-thing in your coat that morning, I thought it was Drusilla's too, but I assumed you'd had it for awhile. Like as a keepsake, or something…"

"Is that why you were pushing me away? You honestly thought I- goddamnit woman, that's the biggest pile of rubbish I've heard in years. After everything we've been through, you think I still want Drusilla?" He hadn't meant for his voice to sound so harsh, and regretted his tone immediately for the effect it had on Buffy.

"Don't you dare act like I'm just some crazy girlfriend." Buffy drew herself up, clenching her fists and jaw. "Every time I've trusted you before, you've surprised me by how much evil you're capable of. Are you really saying I shouldn't even be careful?"

"More rubbish." Spike wrung his hands angrily, fighting the sudden urge to fling the nearest end table through a window. "You may be right about me, before I won my soul, but I've changed Buffy. I thought you knew that. And Dru? Dru is ancient history."

"Right." Buffy scoffed at him. "Is that why you still call her Dru? It's hard to believe you don't have any of that disgusting obsession with her left… Or is it just that 'bad girl' vibe you like? Is that why you're making eyes at slutty shop girls?"

Spike's jaw nearly dropped, unable to believe how ridiculous she was being. Maybe she's right… I do like them crazy.

"... Um, should we go?" asked Xander, already trying to edge himself out of the room. The others shared similarly nervous expressions, and Giles seemed too stunned by the outbursts to move a muscle, frozen into place with his glasses half-raised to his face.

"No." Spike snapped. "Buffy isn't the only one who needs to hear this."

Leaning down so that he was level with her, he put a gently hand on her cheek, guiding her to look at him. Buffy seemed to have lost all energy to fight him, and just stared up at him with childlike eyes, like she was waiting for someone to tell her again how stupid she was being.

"Buffy. I know that we did nothing but push each other away before, but I don't ever want it to be like that again with you again. You're my girl, no matter what you do, so stop this, I beg of you. Scream at me all you like, I'm sure I'll give you plenty of excuses - but don't kid yourself that I don't love you more than anything I've ever known. I know you've been left and betrayed before, my daft self included, but that's all over now. I'm not going anywhere, pet. You're stuck with me, as long as you'll have me."

Finishing his speech, he glanced around the room, expecting some sign of dissension, but even Xander and Giles seemed to respect his proclamation. At the very least, they made no attempt to argue, even as he directed a portion of his 'stuck with me' comment in their direction.

Buffy's lip was trembling, and she buried herself again in Spike's shoulder, embarrassed to have lashed out at him the way she did. It had been fear in control, the same fear that had always reared its ugly head when she'd let Spike get close. Trust Spike to see right through it and her, like he always had.

"I'm entirely devoted to you," he whispered into her ear. "You know that, pet."

Nodding against him, she pulled herself away, trying to shake off her weakened feeling with a literal shake of her shoulders.

"Can we just… pretend that didn't happen?" She addressed the group as a whole, grateful to see no judgement in their eyes. She still feared their judgement; it was one of the many things making this new stage of her life so damn hard these days. She held tightly to Spike's hand as he gently pulled her back onto his lap, returning to their shared seat.

"So… Drusilla." Willow started. "Kinda adds more questions than it answers, doesn't it?"

Spike and Buffy excused themselves from the others while they were still comparing their research discoveries, claiming that they were too exhausted to stay up any later, with all that was left to be done tomorrow. By the skeptical look Dawn shot them, at least one member of the group saw through the weak line; Buffy was clinging to Spike's arm as if her life depended on it, her free hand drawing circles on his back, beneath his shirt, sliding slowly up his spine. Spike played along, but he knew if his heart was beating it would be racing; Buffy's mind was clearly set on making up after their fight, and he was having trouble thinking straight as she led him upstairs.

The moment they were safely in the privacy of their room, she leapt onto him, kissing him passionately, ripping his shirt off so violently that Spike caught the sounds of a couple seams ripping.

"Watch it love, I'm bloody fond of that shirt," he whispered, mock-complaining. Ignoring him, she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist as he pulled her off the ground and into his arms, thanking whatever Gods he could think of that he didn't need to breathe; it would've been difficult, with the hungry way she was snogging him.

"-Second thought," he growled. "Sod the shirt." Leaning forward, he let her weight pull the both of them onto the bed, grabbing her firmly by the hips as he returned her kiss, Buffy moaning beneath him at the pressure of his hold on her.

After his equally-ferocious response in the beginning, she was surprised to feel his touch gradually slowing, the fire between them still growing steadily even as he became increasingly tender. Oxygen-deprived, Buffy felt herself floating. He was different tonight, the heat between them becoming an ache in each of them that only the other could satisfy. In the past, when he'd tried to touch her this way, she'd responded with violence until the demon in him raged, giving her what she thought she'd only wanted from him. Now, she needed this, a craving she never knew she had until she'd thought she'd never have the chance.

It felt like hours before it ended, and for all they knew, it could've been. Content but exhausted, Buffy settled into the crook of Spike's arm, drawing listless patterns on his exposed skin. She could hear the others finally heading up the stairs, Dawn and Giles bickering distantly about some social event or another as they got ready to go to bed.

"Spike?"

His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled at her, sharing her blissful expression. He'd been able to hear the commotion of the household too well to drift off, but had enjoyed the peaceful moment all the same. Buffy's skin felt hot against his, and he loved how very warm he felt with her body tucked against him this way.

"Can you be patient with me?" she whispered.

"Buffy, love," he teased. "Have I ever been anything else?"