A/N:
I am a terrible updater. I have come to terms with this. I had slightly lost interest with this story for awhile. Okay, a couple of years, but hey, who's counting? Anywho, my interest has been renewed and hopefully I don't go on hiatus again and nobody gets left hanging! (for two years…again… so sorry about that…*insert Sherlock series three pun here*)
This is pretty long (as it should be…so sorry again) and it gets a bit dialogue-y. It's also probably the most dramatic this series has gotten but not the most dramatic it's going to get ;)
Thank you to everyone that's held on this long. I sincerely mean that from the depths of my heart. Read on, my friends!
It was about three in the morning when Buffy walked into the apartment she was- temporarily-living in with Castle, Alexis and Martha.
Her flight in from Scotland had landed well over an hour ago and Castle was supposed to be there to pick her up, however, he had been a no-show. Buffy waited for close to forty minutes, thinking he was probably just stuck in traffic or something (because in New York City, traffic was always an issue, no matter the time) before she went running out of the airport, all in a worried fashion. It was lucky that she had only one carry-on bag to remember as she had shipped the rest of her luggage home through the post to accommodate all the Christmas goodies from the gang.
She called Castle's phone relentlessly on the cab ride from the airport to the apartment in downtown Tribeca, with still no answer.
When she walked, okay, no, flew, through door, nearly tripping over some paint cans that were sitting next to it, the entire apartment was dark, except for a small light on in the kitchen above the sink and a desk lamp that was slightly illuminating Castle's office. She immediately saw why no one had answered and smiled, allowing herself to actually breathe for the first time in so many minutes.
Alexis was passed out on the couch with a huge textbook opened in her lap and a highlighter, resting on the sofa, just out of reach of her hand. A large notebook of notes laid on her other side.
Buffy gently closed the front door and set her keys on the counter, realizing now that there was no impending doom. She grabbed Castle's phone from its spot on the charging mat and walked into his office.
Castle was passed out over the top of his laptop, with the latest chapter of Mallory Reynolds: Monster Hunter opened in Word.
Well, she guessed at that part anyway. His screensaver, a silly photo of Castle and herself at Halloween (Wonder Woman and a 'space cowboy'), before the chaos of the evening had descended, was bobbing away across the screen.
Buffy giggled silently to herself. She set his phone down next to the laptop and when she did, she noticed an invitation for a fancy New Year's Eve party.
Ugh. He probably expected her to go with him. No, she knew he expected her to go with him. She had just been hoping for a quiet evening in, wearing sweats and watching the festivities on the television with him, but no, apparently not. He was probably expecting her to get all dolled up and attend yet another fancy schmancy party fully of jerk celebrities and their wannabes.
The silly young thing from Buffy's pre-Slayer days would've done nothing but revel in the glamour of it all. However, the idea now slightly frightened and repulsed her.
It's not like she hadn't attended these sort of social things before with Castle, not necessarily this fancy, but close enough. Four to be exact, including the dreaded Halloween soiree. And she'd hated all four. Especially the Halloween party.
The people were ridiculous, the entertainment was always boring and then oh my gosh, the idiotic questions they'd had to endure while he forced her to mingle around with him. They were always the same two questions. Always.
"How did you two meet?" 'I saved him from a vampire in an alleyway.'
"Are you two an item?" 'No, but I wish we were.'
She obviously didn't reply with those answers, the latter just coming into play rather recently.
Luckily, Castle was quick on his feet to spurt some ridiculously plain answer out the first time they had been asked. Buffy's mom had apparently been 'like a daughter' to Richard's mother, Martha, who had been friend's with Buffy's long dead grandmother.
The very first time Castle had told Martha this little piece of fabricated story, she was absolutely outraged. The whole 'friends with Buffy's grandmother' had really gotten to her. She'd suggested that he change it to 'friends with Buffy's mother' but Castle had refused, saying that he didn't want the story to seem doubtable.
Buffy didn't care either way. It was an easy enough response and she could lie around it.
She stared at the invitation a few moments longer.
Oh what the hell. He had paid for her to go to Scotland to see her family. She could go to a lousy party and spend a few hours mingling with a bunch of people she had no interest in, for him.
She found herself thinking that she'd really do anything for him but banished the thought with no real reason to. She had done anything for him. She'd blown up a small building in the middle of one of the largest cities in the country. All because of a threat one crazy vampire had made.
She grabbed a sheet of paper from his printer, a pen from his desk and wrote him a little note.
'Castle-
The chapters you were working on better be damn good for you falling asleep and leaving me at the airport. I've left your phone next to you just so you can see exactly how worried I was. When you wake up, I'll more than likely be busy sleeping. Rough time in Scotland. Explain later.
Oh, and, FYI, if I'm expected to attend this New Year's Eve bash with you, I'm going to need an outfit. I'll leave my credit card on my dresser. Thanks! :) -Buffy'
P.S. Take either your mother or Alexis shopping with you, please. You should know by now that I'm not really into the 'Elegant Stripper' look, but, for some reason, I just don't think you can quite grasp that fact without some outside help. See you when I wake up!
31st December-
Buffy awoke a full day (plus some) later thanks to jet lag plus the fun end-of-the-world-Christmas activities in Scotland. Stopping an apocalypse really tires a person out.
She stretched her arms and legs out and kicked something at the end of the bed. Sitting up, she saw that there were two long white, now sort of dented, boxes laying on the foot of her bed, with a smaller white box next to them.
She slid all the boxes over on to her lap. The first one she opened contained possibly one of the most gorgeous dresses she had ever seen.
Ever.
It wasn't overtly extravagant yet it was elegant and perfect for a fancy New Year's Eve bash.
The bodice was strapless and dark navy blue with a cap sleeved mesh overlay. It was covered in little gold beads all the way down to the waist. The skirt was full but short, falling just about mid-thigh. There was a triangle opening on the back, separating the two spaces where it hooked closed.
Underneath the dress was, yet another, much smaller, box. She opened it and gasped. There was a gorgeous set of jewelry- a pair of small, simple golden pearl earrings and a set of gold bangles that she was pretty sure contained real diamonds. Underneath the jewelry was a small navy clutch. It had matching gold sparkles that glittered when she held it up to the light.
She set the dress and the jewelry aside and went for the next larger box. It contained just a simple navy overcoat for her dress.
It was very clear to Buffy that the dress had been handpicked by Alexis and the rest by Martha. The shoes that were in the last box however…..not so much.
Those were Castle, all the way.
Definitely Castle.
They were a plain, sparkly gold pump with a bow on the top. They were very pretty, regardless of the five-almost-six inch heels.
Buffy giggled to herself. Only Castle could pair stripper heels with such a classy ensemble.
"I take it that the items are to your liking? My mother and Alexis wanted me to tell you to consider this to be your Christmas present from them."
Buffy jumped at the voice in the door way and scrambled for a blanket to cover up her less than pajama-ness. Now that she was fully aware of her feelings towards Castle, it seemed extremely awkward to her. Mostly because she had no idea how he felt nor was she intent on asking at this precise moment.
"Have you ever heard of knocking?"
"I was just checking to make sure you were still alive. You've been asleep for like daaays."
Buffy smiled. "I'm fine. Alive and kicking. Emphasis on the kicking."
Castle grinned and took the hint, turning around. Buffy scrambled out of bed and started digging around for clothes.
"Once you're dressed, I've got something for you."
"Castle, seriously? You got me a first class ticket to and from Scotland to spend Christmas with my family. Granted it wasn't much of a Christmas, but still. Stop buying me stuff." Buffy said as she pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned back around.
"Why do you automatically just assume that I bought you something? What if I just wanted to show you a really cool video on YouTube or something?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I assume you bought me something because you're you. Stop buying me Christmas presents. The one you gave me was plenty enough."
"This is for your birthday, not Christmas. Why wasn't it a good Christmas?" Castle asked.
"I never said it wasn't a good Christmas. Spending the time with my family was wonderful. Just not much of the traditional family Christmas that I had been hoping for. Really old, crazed witch-y type people trying to resurrect their leaders for revenge or something. I'm not really sure what their motives were. Didn't ask. I didn't really even do anything, besides get some info and kill some demons. Coven ran the show with some High Enchantress Aisle or whatever her name was, banishing them to Hell for eternity. You know, apocalypse-y stuff."
Castle's jaw was hanging. "Wha-That-I-How-I always miss the good things!"
Buffy noticed for the first time that his hands and shirt were covered in splotches of a vibrant turquoise.
"I'm sure that if you call, Willow would be more than glad to give you any notes you wanted for the book. I was really kind of hoping we would have been able to just be together and catch up but no such luck. Are you an artist now too?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Writing is my art form, thank you." he replied, regaining his composure.
She rolled her eyes. "I was referring to your clothes there, Sherlock."
He didn't say anything in response. He just grinned, far too wide for Buffy's liking, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the room.
As soon as they entered the elevator, Castle insisted that Buffy close her eyes. Curiosity peeked, she played along. A few short moments later, the elevator dinged and Castle slipped his hand into Buffy's, leading her out carefully. Buffy's heart pumped furiously in excitement. Or maybe it had to do with Castle's hand still in hers.
Or possibly nervousness. Surprises never did work out well for her.
It was still warm and cozy, so they hadn't gone outside. They had only been in the elevator for maybe a minute or two, so Buffy figured that they were maybe one or two floors below the Castle Compound.
Castle started walking again, leading her carefully down the hall before stopping.
"Okay, stand here. And keep your eyes closed. No peeking. Or else."
Buffy, keeping her eyes closed as requested raised an eyebrow. "Or else? Or else what?"
"Or else….oh, just stand there and be quiet, okay?" His tone was playful.
Buffy quieted herself. She heard what sounded like keys jingling and a door opening. Castle grabbed her hand and pushed her ahead.
"Okay, open 'em." he said, excitedly.
Buffy opened her eyes to an extremely gorgeous apartment.
The center room was large and open, similar to Castle's.
Immediately in front of her, there was a small sofa with a small writing desk behind it. To her right, was the living area, complete with a large sofa, a smaller sofa and an old fashioned wingback chair, all set in white. There was a large, flat screen television and the walls on this side were set in a solid, pretty turquoise color. The very same turquoise that was splattered all over Castle's clothing.
Straight in front of her, behind the small sofa and writing desk, was the kitchen and dining area. It was styled very similar to Castle's yet done in a beautiful spring green. There was an island that sat four people with all the necessary kitchen appliances behind it. Next to there was a rectangular, black dining table that sat eight.
"Castle...what...did you buy me an apartment for my birthday?"
Buffy knew what these apartments went for and she wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to accept a gift like this. Actually, she knew that she couldn't accept it. It was too much.
"Sort of."
"Sort of? It's a yes or no thing. I can't accept-"
"You can and you will because I didn't buy you the apartment. While you were away, I made some calls to some contacts I have and they put me in touch with the right people and this is one-hundred percent Council funded. Except for the furnishings. I provided those. I didn't spend nearly as much as you are thinking. I had most of this stuff locked up in storage and just filled in a few pieces here and there and slapped some paint on the walls."
Buffy just stared open mouthed for several extremely long moments.
She wondered who his contacts were but thought better on asking.
"Soooo...do you like it?
Buffy shook herself out of her daze. "I love it. Thank you." she said, flinging her arms around him in a tight hug. She ignored the wetness in her eyes.
"Allow me to show you to your bedroom?"
Buffy ripped herself out of the hug. Had she really heard that? Some sort of hope flung up through her, that this was Castle telling her how he felt, in his own, Castle-y way.
"What?"
"Buffy, relax. It was a joke. I just meant so you can start getting ready for the party. No need to break my ribs."
Buffy's feelings deflated and she let go of Castle fully. Of course. He was joking. Embarrassed, she pushed him out the door.
"Right. Sorry. Lost in the moment. I can find it. Can you bring my outfit down and leave it on the front sofa? I need to start getting ready."
Buffy sat under the spray of hot water, letting her mind flow as she shampooed.
She'd felt so stupid earlier and now the major embarrassment was really settling in. Since her little self-epiphany on the airplane, she had no idea how to act around him anymore and it apparently showed. She'd acted so out of character that Castle had texted her four times in the last hour to see if she was alright, the last one mentioning something about Scottish body snatchers.
Buffy had resigned herself to act as completely normal as she possibly could tonight, no matter how hard that might be. Just act like Castle was the most annoying person on the planet and everything would be back to the way it was. She hoped. Somehow, under the shower head, her thoughts seemed to ease a bit and the problems seemed to solve themselves. She (reluctantly) shut the water off, stepped out and continued getting ready.
Another hour later, Buffy was sitting next to Castle in the limousine, stuck in a line of, you guessed it, traffic.
This was New Year's Eve in New York City, after all. There were literally millions of pedestrians clogging up the streets, making any sort of traffic a nightmare.
"We're never going to make it to this party on time."
Castle sighed. "I'd be fine if we never made it at all."
"You love these things." Buffy said, with a raised eyebrow.
"I do enjoy social functions, yes, I'm just not entirely enthused about who's hosting this one."
"Then why the hell are we going?"
Buffy longed at the thought of the sweatpants she could be in right now.
The dress was indeed as gorgeous as first thought, however, she found out rather quickly that the length made sitting appropriately extremely difficult. She was praying to whatever God or Goddess that was listening that she wouldn't pull a Paris Hilton getting out of the limo.
"I was invited personally. I tried declining but she was extremely persistent."
Buffy had a really hard time imagining Castle getting tongue tied. He had a response for everything. Literally. Everything.
"Okay, so who is she?"
"Ever heard of Felicity Lochlyn?"
Buffy vaguely remembered hearing the name before but had no idea what entertainment venue she was in.
"Kind of?" she shrugged.
Castle raised his eyebrow.
"Just so you know, you're probably the only person on the planet that doesn't know her. She's that famous."
"Giles."
Castle pressed his lips together. "Touché. Anyway, she won the third season of Supermodels. And then there was Supermodels: Unleashed. And then she did some crap Lifetime movies. And then she thought she was a singer and a horrendous one at that. When her singing career tanked, she starred in a couple of the Panic movies. People actually cheered when she was killed off at the end of the second one. And then there was Supermodels: The Reunion. Recently, she's ventured into my territory and written a book."
"I'm honestly afraid to ask on what."
"Herself. It's an autobiography."
Castle was absolutely serious on how much he didn't want to go to this party. He sat in the seat, ranting some more about other various failed projects she'd done, her string of famous (now ex) husbands and how he despised that they shared a publishing company, which was how she had conned him into attending this party.
"I had just planned on staying in, for once, you know. Because I thought that's what you would have liked. But I ran into Felicity at the Christmas party that my publishing company throws every year. She cornered me and wouldn't take no for an answer."
Buffy grinned but not at the thought of Castle being cornered by some sleazy superstar and not being able to get out of it. That actually angered her quite a bit. She was going to have to put an end to this Felicity business, sooner rather than later. It sounded like she wanted to make Castle part of the husband brigade.
What had Buffy grinning was the fact that Castle himself had actually planned on staying in because that's what he thought she would've wanted. He was willing to skip all the frivolities that he loved so much for her jet lag.
"Why are you grinning like a Cheshire?"
Buffy toned it down a bit, remembering that she was supposed to be acting normal.
"It's nothing, really. Just the thought of a woman actually making you, of all people, uncomfortable is kind of hysterical."
"You're mean, you know that?"
"I've got approximately… 2,73…4 Slayers that can tell you just how mean I can be."
"I trained under you, remember? I know."
Buffy laughed, nervously as a not-so-pleasant memory flickered to the forefront. "I went easy on you. You have no idea, Castle. Absolutely no idea."
"I'm so glad that I'm not a teenage girl with superpowers. And that's not something I say often."
They arrived at the party about forty-five minutes later. The seventh floor grand ballroom, conveniently located right in the heart of Times Square, didn't surprise Buffy at all. The windows would hold a perfect view when the ball dropped at midnight.
Spotting several ball gowns, she felt slightly underdressed yet she still held some confidence knowing that she would at least be able to kick some ass comfortably if the occasion arose. She mingled with Castle for a bit, getting bored to tears with the same relentless questions that she had known were coming.
Throughout the evening, she'd spotted a few celebrities that she recognized. She'd secretly snapped a few pictures on her phone to send back to the gang, as they had made her promise to do every time she attended one of these things with Castle.
After yet another round of mingling, something that she feared was going to take up the entire evening, she broke away and stood at the window, looking out over the millions of people on the street below.
"What are you thinking about?"
Buffy turned to find Castle standing behind her, with two glasses of champagne.
"You know, with all those people down there, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned into a vamp free-for-all. There are literally millions of people in the streets. Who's to know if say, ten or fifteen of them disappear? It would just be chalked up to another New York City crime. No one would ever know."
"Do you ever take a night off?" Castle asked, raising his eyebrow and handing her one of the champagne glasses.
"Sorry. Round the clock job. Can't help it sometimes. Have you still managed to avoid seeing our hostess?"
"Yes, thank god. I don't think I could handle having to hear her drone on and on about 'the writing process'. She's not even a real writer. She wrote a damn autobiography. How hard is it to chronicle your life? Especially when the majority of it has been faked in front of a TV camera!"
"Castle, shut up."
"Excuse me?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I mean, isn't that her coming this way?" she asked, nodding behind him.
Castle sighed and took a deep breath. "Damn it. She found me. I was doing so well at dodging her too."
Felicity Lochlyn looked like your typical supermodel-turned-socialite. She had bleach blonde hair and a dark, perfectly bronzed tan (never mind that it was December in the Northeast). Her perfectly manicured nails accented her (probably) smooth-as-a-baby's-bottom skin. Height wise, she had a good six or seven inches on Buffy, at least. To top everything off, she was wafer thin and boasting some obviously fake accessories.
She was wearing a hot pink strapless dress. It was shorter and tighter than Buffy's in the front but it had a floor length train that fell in ruffles down her back. Rhinestones sparkled all around the top and were placed intermittently throughout the ruffle train. It kind of looked like the prom dress section of Debs had thrown up on her.
"Richard! There you are! For a minute, I'd thought you'd stood me up, naughty boy." she exclaimed in a slightly southern drawl, practically shoving Buffy out of the way as she flung her arms around Castle's neck.
Felicity pulled him into a tight embrace that was just-this-side of inappropriate thanks to her roaming hands.
Castle managed to ease himself out of the awkward hug. "You know me. Crazy party fiend. We've been mingling around." he answered, stepping back out of her reach and standing slightly behind Buffy, like she was his protector from the big bad supermodel.
"Felicity, I'd like you to meet my date, Buffy Summers. Buffy, this is the Felicity Lochlyn."
Buffy sucked in a mouthful of air and plastered on the fakest smile she could manage. "Pleased to meet you."
Felicity shifted her eyes over to Buffy, fully raking her in. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she shot daggers at Buffy. The word 'date' had not settled well with Felicity, apparently. Her eyes returned to normal as she shifted her gaze back to Castle.
"Richard, you didn't tell me you were involved in the mentoring programs! That is so sweet that you would bring a child so lost to the system with you. I'm melting where I stand! You sure do know how to make a girl swoon. So when are you going to take me out on the town, handsome?"
"Uh, well, you see, my, um, schedule…I'm right in the middle of a deadline for this new series I'm starting and I'm just a tad bit behind. I'm lucky that Paula's not spotted me yet tonight and flayed me." he stammered out.
Buffy was a tad bit peeved that he didn't correct her.
"She wasn't invited. Who wants to party with the boss?"
"You're trying to promote your autobiography without your book agent?" Castle questioned.
"Tonight isn't about trying to sell my book. Tonight is about fun and drinking and dancing and making terrible decisions. What do you say about you and I hitting the dance floor?" Felicity asked, batting her obviously false eyelashes at Castle.
"I shouldn't. I mean, I'm here with—"
"Bunny will be fine. She can go mingle and make some new friends." Felicity said, with a little more force, sending a glare in Buffy's direction and her fake accessories in Castle's direction.
Buffy's fists started to twitch.
"So this is where she's going? Fine. Two can play at this game." Buffy thought.
She ducked under Castle's arm and wrapped her arm around Castle's waist and molded him as close to her as she could.
"A few things, Felicity. I'm not some problem child that was 'lost to the system'. I'm an adult. I'm probably older than you, actually. Secondly, stop sending me the eye daggers. How old are you? Twelve? And lastly, I would appreciate it if you could stop throwing yourself all over my BOYFRIEND like a cat in heat. You are obviously missing the fact that A) He's here with someone else and B) he's clearly not interested in you. And while we're on that topic, why should he be? Because you're Felicity Lochlyn? Who cares? You're nothing more than some washed up reality show star trying to grab at your already dimming fame before it flickers out like a candle in a rain storm."
They stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Felicity stormed away in an angry, embarrassed huff.
"Buffy! Have I told you how amazing you are lately? That was great!" Castle said, excitedly pulling Buffy into a full embrace. "If I'm lucky, she'll be so offended that she'll never talk to me again!"
"I was only a little mad until she called me Bunny. Then she was lucky it wasn't full scale Slayer mode." Buffy smiled.
"Brilliant idea with the boyfriend thing but you know that Page Six is going to have a field day with that right? I'd be surprised if it wasn't on its way to the printers right now."
Buffy hadn't actually thought of that while she'd been telling Felicity off. He was right though. She was probably on the phone with that guy from TMZ right now, selling the story.
Oh well. It didn't matter. She had no problem with everyone thinking they were together. The idea actually made her damn near giddy.
"Yeah, I didn't really think that one through. It's okay though. I don't mind being your girlfriend."
Castle's eyes widened—not a lot, but enough—and she swore that the room shifted slightly. Buffy realized her blunder instantly and was internally slapping herself.
"I mean not your actual girlfriend. Your pretend girlfriend. I don't mind being your pretend girlfriend. The tabloids have been printing our pictures together for months now. The only difference is they'll have a name for me besides 'mystery blonde'." Buffy said in a rush of word vomit.
"Right. You meant pretend girlfriend. Of course." Castle said, quietly.
"He almost sounds…disappointed?" Buffy thought. "But disappointed about what? That I had it was okay? Probably. He's a pretty private guy when it comes to the paparazzi stuff. He didn't like when they started printing the pictures of us in Page Six so it makes sense that he'd be disappointed that I said it was okay….ugh, what I wouldn't give for a Hellmouth to open up and swallow me whole."
They were surrounded by hundreds of people and all Buffy could see was Castle staring at her with the strangest look on his face. The air started to get stuffy and suddenly all Buffy could think about was getting away from the self created awkwardness.
"Well, now that the Wicked Witch of New York has been defeated, I'm going to venture off to the ladies room. Want me to grab you a drink on my way back through?"
She had no idea why she was offering to bring him a drink when she was planning on escaping the party and pummeling her embarrassment out on several unsuspecting vampires.
Much to her chagrin, he accepted.
She'd managed to escape into the bathroom for a few minutes of hyperventilating while trying to keep her emotions in check. She was supposed to be playing it cool around him and instead she'd blurted out to the hostess of the party that they were together while telling her where she could go in the process. She'd tried dissecting the look he'd given her but it was no use. She followed up the hyperventilating by giving herself several pep talks and a lot of back and forth about whether or not to tell him about her feelings. She threw in several wishes for a demon or something to kill.
She emerged not feeling much better at all.
She spotted the bar and remembered Castle's drink request. She pulled her phone out of her clutch and busied herself by replying to a few texts from Willow, Dawn and Xander while waiting her turn to order. In no time at all, the bartender was down at her end and the drink orders were in. She'd ordered Castle his scotch and herself another glass of champagne.
Buffy scanned the crowd around the bar while she was waiting, looking for Castle. She had decided to put her resolve face on and go back to acting like everything was normal. If he said anything more about the girlfriend remark, she'd tell him that they would talk about it after the party and she would (probably) tell him her feelings then.
The bartender came back over with her drinks and handed them off to Buffy. She threw some money in tip jar and started to walk away from the bar when her senses started to tingle. It was familiar but not necessarily urgent. She couldn't place the feeling.
"Of course there was probably some kind of warped vengeance demon listening in when I wished for something to kill." she sighed to herself.
She followed the pull to the other end of the bar where she stopped dead in her tracks. It was familiar, alright. Everything about him was familiar, from his accent to his bleach blonde hair right down to that stupid leather coat.
Buffy's body went from flaming hot to ice cold. She was frozen in her spot with angry partygoers stopping and having to go around her.
Spike was dead.
Okay, well, clearly he wasn't as he was sitting at the end of the bar chatting up some brunette chick in a tight fitting mermaid style dress. But he had died. Buffy had seen the flames with her own eyes. He had died when Sunnydale died. Sunnydale had died because he had put that stupid amulet around his neck and sacrificed himself.
Clearly the amulet was magical and more than likely the explanation for him sitting in front of her.
His back was still to her but she knew with every ounce of her being that it was him. The brunette he was with was extraordinarily gorgeous. Her hair was just below shoulder length and luscious. The bright blue of her dress looked exquisite against her olive colored skin and matched her eyes almost perfectly. They looked at ease with each other so they obviously had met before tonight. They had probably come here together, even. What were they to each other? And why did it matter to Buffy?
It mattered, she reasoned, because they'd had something once. She hadn't quite known what it was and it wasn't nearly as powerful as it had been with Angel, but it was something. And then it only magnified after he had sacrificed himself for their cause. She had grieved and mourned him for a very long time. In fact, she wasn't quite sure she'd ever be done mourning him.
Until she saw him. Alive.
Okay, alive-ish.
Her emotions decided to be even more of a bitch and throw her feelings for Castle into the mix. It was true—Spike hadn't been in her thoughts for awhile now. Since Castle had wiggled his way under her skin. She hadn't forgotten him completely just…it had seemed to change from mourning to nostalgia.
She couldn't deal with this right now. She had to get out. She had to leave. She couldn't knowingly be in the same place as him. The mourning period was over and it was being replaced by a deep seated, bubbling rage.
Just as she was about to walk away, he got up from his seat at the bar. He put his arm around the brunette and turned to walk away. He stopped in his tracks when he spotted her. The brunette noticed that he had stopped walking and was asking him what was wrong.
At least, that's what Buffy supposed. She couldn't hear anything. All the loud music, the voices, it was nothing now. Crickets.
They stared at each other for what seemed like hours (but was really only maybe a minute) until Spike broke the contact. He slung his arm back around the brunette and walked right past Buffy, completely ignoring her.
The rage bubbled straight up to the top. Buffy was sure she probably looked like a cartoon character, with steam shooting straight out the top of her head.
She turned to follow them. She had every intention of asking him what the hell his problem was. How could he know how she felt about him, how he felt about her and still not tell her he was back?
That had been her intention until she marched back into the ballroom and saw that the lovely couple was dancing, ahem, animatedly. Buffy couldn't stand the sight. She turned to leave and ran smack dab into Castle.
"Did you fly back to Scotland to get our drinks?" he asked, his tone back in normal Castle territory.
She didn't answer him. She shoved both drinks at him and ran out of the ballroom. She had to get out. She couldn't be in here anymore. She ran so fast that she didn't even hear Castle calling after her and she certainly didn't see Spike slip out the side door.
Buffy had run out of the party so fast that she hadn't bothered remembering her coat. Now that she was several blocks away from the party and the craziness of Times Square, she was extremely aware. Goosebumps lined her flesh, from head to toe. She was freezing and, naturally, none of the clothing stores she had passed had been open.
She heard her phone ringing inside her clutch, which she had only remembered because she had been holding it under her arm as she ran out, and ignored it. It was most likely Castle again. He'd been calling on repeat for the last twenty minutes.
Buffy pulled her phone out and sent the call to voicemail. She needed to be alone. Honestly, she needed to beat the living shit out of something evil. That is why she was currently on her way to the nearest cemetery, a forty-five minute walk from where she had been.
She turned into the park where the cemetery was located and hopped the fence, dropping onto the top of a small crypt. She leapt down and began her hunt.
She punched the vampire repeatedly, the blood from his face pouring over her hands. She'd nearly disfigured him.
"Are you going to finish him or are you going to just keep using him as your sodding punching bag, pet?"
Buffy stopped at the sound of his voice, fist in midair. She grabbed a tree branch and shoved it through the vampire's heart, dusting him. She tossed the branch to the ground and turned to face Spike.
"How long have you been back?" she asked, quietly.
"Buffy, I—"
"How. Long. Have. You. Been. Back."
"A few months after Sunnydale went down." He sighed. "I turned up in Angel's office, all spooky and ghost like. Some shit happened, I became corporeal again and we took down the Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart, together. With the whole team. After that, Angel decided to expand Angel Investigations. He wanted to keep helping people. I did too. We thought it would be good to include some of the new Slayers. Give them places to go—"
"Save it." I said, putting my hand out to stop him from talking. "I know this part. I sat and helped Angel figure parts of it out. Was it just him?"
"For what?"
"I mean, was it just Angel and his team that knew you were alive? And don't lie to me, Spike."
He took a cigarette out of his coat pocket and lit it, taking a long drag.
"No. The majority of them knew. I don't know why they didn't tell you. I could say that it probably has something to do with the fact that the only tolerable ones are the little bit and Willow. We both know Eye Patch & dear old Dad's feelings towards me."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to bother you." He said, quietly.
"Bullshit, Spike. How hard would it have been to, I don't know, show up at my door or to pick up the phone?"
"It's not bullshit, Buffy. After you lost those slayers in Scotland and moved here, I knew you needed time. You needed to get back to normalcy so we all stood back and let you be. You needed the time to recover from the loss and time to be on your own. Figure things out. I figured that you didn't need me coming and throwing a wrench into everything."
Buffy swallowed hard, willing the memory of that horrible night to go away. She certainly didn't need that on top of everything else that had gone on today.
"So I got into town a few months ago with Maggie, to scout out a new New York base. I knew you were here and I had thought that this time, I would look you up. Maggie drops a magazine in front of me and what do I see? 'Author Richard Castle spotted on yet another outing with mystery blonde.' " he quoted. "You looked so happy in the picture with him that I couldn't bring myself to find you. You were more than happy. You were settled. I couldn't disrupt that."
Buffy wiped a stray tear from her eye and tried to suck the rest of them back in, at least until she was in the comfort of her own home. It would be a great first night there. She could christen the place by having a meltdown in every room.
Spike's little speech had softened her a bit but it still didn't take any of the hurt away nor did bringing up that night with the slayers in Scotland.
"Who is Maggie?" she asked, looking for any way possible to change the subject.
Spike's face lit up as soon as she said her name. They were definitely an item then.
"Maggie is a slayer. She was placed on my team by Angel, I think as a babysitter for me. Turns out, she has a thing for English blokes with a bad streak. Also, she knew that I knew you so I think that was a big factor in it at first too. She's got this hero worship thing going for you."
"That's great." Buffy said, absently.
"You've got Author Boy now. A real boy. You don't need us creatures anymore."
"What were you doing at the party?" Buffy asked, ignoring his previous statement.
"Crashing it of course, pet."
Buffy smiled a little at that. Of course they were crashing it. It seemed that Maggie had a little bit of Faith in her too.
From somewhere in the graveyard, her phone started its shrill ring.
She sighed loudly, knowing that it was Castle, yet again.
Spike followed the sound over to a series of gravestones and picked her clutch up. He pulled the phone out and handed it to her.
"Lover boy is calling."
"You can send it to voicemail. I'll talk to him later. And he's not my lover boy."
Spike raised his eyebrow at her as he declined the call. "Could have fooled me, the way you were marking your territory all over him earlier."
"You saw that? When did you get to the party? You knew I was there?"
"I didn't see anything. He happened to walk past me when I was outside trying to figure out where you went. I could smell you all over him."
"Has anyone ever told you how gross that smelling people thing is?"
"Between you, the little bit and Maggie, it's like I never hear anything else."
"I wasn't marking my territory. I was helping him out of a bad situation that he got into with the hostess, Felicity."
"Nasty bird, that one. I reckon she's sold her soul to get where she is."
"Wait, people can actually do that?"
"Well, yeah. Of course."
"Huh. Good to know, I guess."
"Don't change the subject. You can tell yourself you haven't fallen for Author Boy but I can see it all over you, Buffy."
"Can you not give me romantic advice? It's weird."
"I'm just saying—"
"Like I said, just because you're all ensouled and in a happy relationship with your gorgeous, kickass slayer girlfriend, doesn't mean you're qualified to be handing out advice, Dr. Phil."
"I know you, pet. Like I said, I can see it all over your face. You just need to come to terms with it."
"For the record, I have come to terms with my feelings and I just don't know if he feels the same and I know I need to ask but I know without a doubt that I wouldn't be able to handle the rejection if he said no." Buffy said, spilling her feelings out in one rushed, jumbled sentence.
Spike handed Buffy her clutch and her phone. "Judging by the fact that you've got one-hundred and five text messages from him, ninety-seven missed calls and twenty voicemails, I think he might care a bit."
Buffy took her things from Spike and saw that he was right. One-hundred and five missed text messages, ninety-seven missed calls and twenty voicemails, all from Castle. She must have tuned out the ringing while she was fighting. She powered down her phone, not wanting to deal with it anymore and the wind blew a little, sending shivers down Buffy.
Oh, right. Her coat. All the adrenaline from the fight and Spike had worn itself down and she was absolutely frigid.
"You're freezing, Buffy. Where's your coat?"
"I left it at the party."
"Stupid."
"Kind of wasn't thinking straight."
"Want a ride home? It's a long and cold walk to Tribeca for someone not wearing a coat."
Buffy smiled her first genuine smile of the night.
Castle dialed Buffy's number again. It went straight to voicemail this time, instead of ringing first. That meant either it had died or she had turned it off voluntarily.
He turned the phone over in his hands, contemplative and fidgety. He had absolutely no idea what had happened tonight. They'd been having a fairly decent time until Felicity had come over. After Buffy had (brilliantly) told her off and she'd stormed away, things turned awkward. Fast.
He knew he was partially to blame for that but when she had said that she didn't mind being his girlfriend, the room had started to spin. Figuratively, of course. This wasn't a Harlequin romance novel.
Was it too juvenile to say that he had a crush? Ah, what the hell. He'd been crushing on Buffy since the very first night they'd met. Every passing day, week and month had only made it stronger. Every single thing he learned made him want to learn a hundred new things about her.
The day she came to him after her place burned down had haunted him for weeks. It really drove home how dangerous her line of work was. He would easily admit that he'd spent the time before that in total hero worship of this seemingly real life comic book heroine.
After that terrible wake up call, his hero worship was shredded into pieces. He realized how easily Buffy could be gone from his life.
It was horrendously painful to think about. The thought of what could have happened to her that day still haunted his dreams, over a month later. The time she'd spent in Scotland had left him in a puddle of worry and total misery. He wanted to know what she was doing, if she was safe. Martha and Alexis had told him to just give into his misery and to call her or at least a text message. He didn't though. He wanted to let her have her family time. The last thing he wanted was to bother her.
And as much as he absolutely loved having her at his place, and how much the other two women in his life loved having her there, he knew how much it would mean to Buffy having her own space. Redecorating the apartment two floors below his had given him something to occupy his mind over the week she was gone.
She would be able to have her privacy and still be close enough. Buffy and Alexis had really seemed to hit it off. She said that Alexis reminded her of a much younger version of her best friend, Willow. Buffy held the opinion that Alexis would make an excellent Watcher and that she should consider it as a career choice in her future.
Castle's mother, Martha, had bonded well with Buffy too, after the Halloween incident.
It warmed Castle's heart, right down to its core, that she had become so close with the two most important women in his life, something that neither of his ex-wives had really ever been able to do.
Alexis loved her mother but she had chosen to stay with Castle for a reason—the two of them had just never clicked like her and her father did. They were completely different people.
Buffy had managed to click with both Martha and Alexis within a matter of months, while equally impressing and infuriating both of his ex-wives. Though their opinions mattered very little to him.
And then tonight, when she had so easily taken charge and told Felicity Lochlyn, easily one of the most famous women in the world at the moment, in very plain English that Castle was hers and hers alone…well, smitten would be the first word to come to mind. One hundred percent smitten. Maybe even something more.
He dialed her number again and got the same straight-to-voicemail. He opened his messages and sent her a couple more texts, but they hung in the air, undelivered. Her phone was most definitely off then.
He'd thought about checking a few of the close by cemeteries to see if she had gone hunting but thought better of it. She had told him not to go alone and he was going to respect that.
He didn't want to start 2010 by becoming the equivalent to a vampire breakfast bar.
He'd learned the basics but he still wavered on how he would actually fare in a fight. He'd figured not well, at least not without Buffy there for backup.
He'd checked a few of the bars and both of the night clubs she had taken him to on 'class work assignments', figuring they were safer than the cemeteries, with no luck at any of them.
It was nearing three in the morning when he walked into the lobby of his—their—apartment building. He desperately hoped that she had just gone home and gone to sleep. He anticipated her being pissed at him for waking her up in the middle of the night. He was actually a little bit excited about her being pissed at him. It would be normal, pre-Scotland Buffy. She'd been acting really weird and (mostly) not herself all day long.
He stepped off of the elevator and practically ran down the hall, only slowing when he passed another man. It had looked like he had come out of Buffy's door…but that couldn't be right.
She had previously confessed that she hadn't really ever made any friends since moving here. She had said that she had tried to make friends with some of the other Slayers that lived around the City but they didn't want anything to do with her and she hadn't tried again. She kept to herself.
Seeing as how she had just gotten off the plane from Scotland two days ago, he didn't think it would be any of the family she had been seeing. He supposed that she could've met him at the party….but Castle knew that she wasn't the one night stand type. He just knew that wasn't her.
He pushed all these thoughts aside, the platinum blonde haired man included, and knocked on her door.
No answer.
He knocked louder.
Still no answer.
He turned the knob and found it unlocked. He stepped in, his jaw set firm. She might be some cosmic superhero but she should still know better than to leave her door unlocked in the middle of the night on the biggest night of the year.
He called out her name. Silence. He walked down the hall to her bedroom and knocked on the closed door.
"Buffy? Are you in there?"
Silence. His stomach tied itself in knots. He knocked again.
"Buffy—if you're in there, open up. Please." He pleaded.
Still nothing.
"Okay, I'm coming in. Please don't beat me up."
He opened the door and the room was pitch black. He felt around the wall until he found the light switch.
Empty.
He turned to leave, now thoroughly depressed and worried, when he saw her bathroom door was slightly ajar and there was a tiny glimmer of light.
He pushed the door open and the room was, yet again, empty. And freezing. Below freezing, probably.
He turned around and saw that the window was partially open.
"That's odd." he whispered to no one in particular.
He opened the window fully and noticed the fire escape. In the last few months with Buffy, one of the things he learned was how much she liked sitting up high. He wanted to slap himself for not thinking of checking here first.
He crawled out onto the fire escape and stood in contemplation.
What would Buffy do?
Would she talk to him and tell him what was going on or would she run away again?
Castle took a deep, calming breath and started up the fire escape.
Buffy sat on the edge of the roof, staring out over the city. From her vantage point, she could see clear across. It was definitely a city that was made to be seen from as high up as possible. She thought that she might even be able to see the July 4th fireworks from this spot this summer.
She had calmed down considerably over the last few hours and, believe it or not, a lot of that was due to Spike.
Initially, she was so beyond pissed but once he had explained himself and her nerves started to settle, she found herself relaxing in the familiarity of his company.
She thought that it would've been awkward and stressful, like the first few times she'd seen her family after leaving Scotland, but it wasn't. It was actually really nice.
They had reminisced some about Sunnydale but mostly kept things to the recent past, not wanting to rehash any of the old heartaches.
Spiked talked incessantly about Maggie, the second slayer to bag his heart in so many years. Buffy could see how much he loved her and, strangely she wasn't really jealous. It definitely stung a little bit but she could see herself getting over it. He seemed so happy. So unlike…Spike.
Buffy told him about the last four years in New York, saying that it hadn't really been eventful or exciting until she'd saved Castle from the vamp in the alleyway at the end of the summer.
Then Spike said the last thing she'd expected him to.
"Apparently Maggie and I aren't the only ones swimming in the deep end."
"And again in English?"
"You're in love, Buffy. Sappy, novel worthy, movie-of-the-week, love. With the teddy from the fair, the heart shaped balloons and the big, blinking lights. You're in love with Author Boy."
"Wh-what?" Buffy sputtered. "No, I'm not!"
"Yes, pet, you are."
"I admit that I have more-than-a-friend feelings for him, yes, but it's not—"
"It is and I'll prove it. Are you scared? Terrified beyond belief? Have you been yourself lately? Have you done things for him that you normally wouldn't do for anyone else? I know you can answer at least two of those with a yes. You're in love."
This was Buffy's second epiphany in the last four days. It hit her much harder than the first one on the airplane had.
Spike was right, something she hadn't really said all that often in her life.
"You know you're going to have to tell him how you feel. You can't leave him hanging."
She was going to have to tell him how she felt. Nothing scared her more than that.
An hour or so later, Buffy and Spike watched as Castle's limo dropped him off in front of the building.
Spike left, promising Buffy she would see him again before he and Maggie left the city.
It was another fifteen minutes before Buffy felt Castle standing behind her. She turned and stood, leaving the spectacular view of the city behind her. The first thing she noticed, even on the barely lit rooftop, was how terrible Castle looked. Worry lines framed his face and he seemed utterly exhausted. What had he been doing the last few hours?
"Thought you might want this." he said, holding up her navy coat.
"Thanks." she said, quietly sliding the coat on over the thick sweater she had changed into.
"What happened, Buffy?"
She swallowed but the lump in her throat wouldn't go down.
"I saw an ex."
He raised an eyebrow, obviously not accepting that as her answer.
"Let me clarify by saying the last time I saw him, he died. He has been back for a few years and I didn't know. No one thought to tell me."
A conversation she would definitely be having with her family in the future.
Realization lit across Castle's face. "I guess that's as good a reason to freak out as any."
Buffy's heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest. All of a sudden, she wanted absolutely no part of this conversation that was about to happen. She wanted to run and hide until it went away. Anxiety raced through her like the horses at Saratoga.
"That's the only reason?" he pried. "I mean, not that it's not a valid one."
Buffy nodded and stared at the increasingly interesting roof top.
"You're lying. I can see it written all over your face, Buffy. You've been acting weird all day long. You haven't been yourself since you woke up this morning."
Something in that extremely innocent sentence made Buffy snap. Undeserved anger poured out.
"How do you know?" she hissed.
"Know what? Why are you yelling at me?"
"How do you know this isn't who I really am?"
"Because I know you, Buffy, and this isn't you. In case you've forgotten, we just spent most of the last month being roommates. I know you better than you think. This Buffy? The one that's all strange behavior, the one that's telling a major celebrity that she's my girlfriend and then leaving me on my own in the next breath, the mad, yell-y Buffy? It isn't you. This is you trying to shut me out of whatever is going on and this is you trying to push me away. Stop doing that. Talk to me."
"Do you want to know why I moved to New York?" Buffy asked quietly.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything. It's going to prove how well you don't know me."
Castle stared at her, his intrigue spiked. "Go on."
"Four years ago, our main training camp was based in Edinburgh. I had a few new girls that couldn't quite grasp the idea of basic training. I thought I would take them out on the streets to show them what they were fighting for. I wouldn't tell them, though. I was going to tell them that we were just going out for a bite and then I would lead them into Greyfriar's Cemetery. It's supposed to be one of the most active cemeteries in the area. I would let them fight their way out. I brought it up to Faith but she didn't think it was a good idea. She didn't think they had enough training for Greyfriar's. I agreed but said that they were never going to have enough unless they jumped right in. We argued about it, the worst we'd argued in a long time. She eventually just gave me a 'whatever' and said that I was going to do what I wanted anyway. So I did. I took the girls out. Led them into the cemetery. Long story short, we got ambushed by a family of demons and we were severely outnumbered. All five of my girls died. I barely made it out myself."
Buffy wiped a few stray tears out of her eyes and crossed her arms.
"All hell broke loose when I got back. Faith and I got into a legitimate slayer-on-slayer fight. We nearly killed each other. Again. My family was torn apart. They all took Faith's side. Not one of them was on mine. Again. The next day when things had calmed down a bit, Giles pulled me into his office and told me that I should retire. Go on and live my normal life. I said no. He said he wasn't giving me a choice. He was forcing it. I was reckless and irresponsible and I'd gotten five teenage girls murdered. I needed to learn my lesson, one way or another, no matter how hard, he'd said."
"Buffy, it—"
"Three thousand two hundred and fifty seven miles. That's how far it is from Edinburgh to New York City. I had nine hours of in-flight time to think about the choice I'd made. More than enough time for me to reflect, right? Do you know what I came away with?"
"What?" Castle asked, wearily.
"Yes, I was sorry that they were gone. Yes, I felt terrible. Yes, I still feel terrible every time I think about it. Yes, I probably should have listened to Faith. But I didn't regret it. I still don't regret it. Not one bit. Five girls, ages fifteen through nineteen died on my watch and I can't find one ounce of regret in me anywhere."
"Buffy—"
"And do you want to know the absolute worst part? I would do it again. In a heartbeat. Hell, I have done it. To you. First night I took you to that cemetery. I sat you right on that woman's grave, knowing full well she was about to rise. I distracted you with idle conversation. I didn't help you when you asked for it. I just watched you struggle and fight."
"Buffy—"
"That is who I am, Castle. I'm not this super awesome, bad ass comic book superhero that you're painting me as. I'm a broken, reckless warrior that's seen too much and doesn't really care about a lot anymore."
Castle reached out, grabbed Buffy's hands in his and entwined them.
"Stop. Trying. To. Push. Me. Away."
"You don't understand."
"I'm not an idiot, Buffy. You've been places and seen things that you never should have had to. You've had to be strong when everyone else is weak. You may be a little bit broken but broken can be fixed. And don't say that you don't care—you do care. I know it. I see it everyday. Whether you're helping Alexis with her friend and boy troubles or whether you're having a simple conversation with my mother. If you didn't care, you wouldn't do those things. What I don't understand is where all of this negativity is coming from. I have never been more confused in my entire life."
This was it. She was going to have to spill the second half now. Tears started freefalling down Buffy's face.
"When I was leaving Scotland to come back here, Xander asked me to stay. A part of me was so happy that they were starting to put all the unpleasantness behind them. When I first moved here, not one of us talked for over a year. Even with how happy I was about Xander asking me to stay, I couldn't bring myself to say yes. I made up a few excuses, which Willow and Dawn promptly saw through. I thought that it was because I was really starting to like my life here, and it was, but then Dawn said something as I was boarding the plane. I was coming back here for you. For Martha. For Alexis. I didn't starting loving my life here until very recently. Until I met you." Buffy rambled.
She sucked in a few deep breaths, trying to control the sobs as they poured out.
"Before you," she continued, "My life here was miserable. None of the slayers here would speak to me after Faith spread around what I did. I hadn't made a single friend here until you. Four years of living here, totally solo. Do you know how much I look forward to seeing you everyday? I thought that it was just some mild, crush-y type feelings but tonight, Spike, he read me like an open book. I kind of think that I might love you and you're so great and a part of me thinks that we could be great together but then the rest of me thinks that you don't deserve someone as screwed up as me."
Buffy sucked in a few more deep breaths and wiped more tears from her eyes. She could see the makeup running down in black droplets, landing on her hands. She could only imagine what kind of horrifying creature she looked like right now.
"When you hesitated on the whole girlfriend/pretend girlfriend thing, I automatically assumed that you weren't interested in that type of relationship with me. I thought that I had just singlehandedly ruined our friendship with one stupid outburst. I couldn't deal with the thought of that so I ran." She added, her voice cracking and getting hoarse.
She couldn't read Castle's face, something that was usually so easy to do. He was silent for another minute while he took everything that she had just thrown at him in.
"Boy, this honesty stuff sure is fun." Buffy mumbled.
"Are you blind?"
"Excuse me?"
"You're clearly blind. "
"Don't piss me off, Castle. We're on the roof, remember?"
"There's no way in hell that I would've just spent the last four hours chasing you all around the city tonight if I wasn't one hundred percent, bat-shit crazy in love with you."
He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
"One hundred and ten text messages and ninety-nine missed calls. I don't even know how many garbled voicemails I left—"
"Last count was twenty when I shut my phone off."
"Do you know what you get when you add all of those together?"
"Two hundred and twenty-nine?"
Castle quirked his eyebrow at her. "I was driving around the majority of the city, searching for you in all the random places that I thought you might be. I was worried sick about you. Because I love you. Though, if you showed that to the NYPD and then added in the driving around bit, they might consider it stalking."
Buffy put her hands up in an almost defensive gesture.
"Wait—you love me?"
"Um, yep. Just said that. Twice. And so didn't you."
"I said I thought."
"Oh…" Castle said, his heart deflating a bit.
"But I'm also still working through all of what you just said." Buffy smiled.
"And what does that mean? For us?"
"It means…" Buffy took yet another deep breath. "It means that I know that I love you. It means that I was a giant idiot tonight. Instead of just telling you outright this morning, I got stuck inside of my fears and my emotions and I let them take over and ruin everything. I got too scared. I still kind of am, scared that is. This is all kind of fast."
"It is a little fast but if you just think about it as we were friends for a good four months first, then it might make it seem not so fast. I sense a but coming."
"But", she smiled, "I know that every time I've tried to picture my life without you in it, well, I don't like it. And I like the friends first definition."
"Soooooooo….does that mean you told Felicity the truth earlier? Are we a couple?"
"We…are a we, I think. What about you?"
Castle grinned. "If it's up to me then it's a yes! Yes. Y-E-S."
He pulled her into his chest and hugged her tightly to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and let herself bask in the warm, comforting glow he was creating.
Buffy pulled away from him after a minute, leaving herself entwined in his arms.
"I really am sorry about how I acted earlier. I freaked out over nothing. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I completely overreacted. To the point that I don't think I can actually call it 'overreacting' anymore. I think it was just pure dramatics."
"You don't have to apologize."
"Castle, yes I do."
"Consider the factors. You were stressed when the snowstorm hit. You were stressed about going home. You had to cancel your holiday plans to advert an apocalypse as soon as you landed. Tonight, you not only had to deal with the Queen of the Divas, but you also ran into your supposedly dead ex-boyfriend."
"And his new girlfriend." Buffy added.
"And his new girlfriend." Castle agreed. "Ouch. That is tough. All that plus two nine hour flights and a massive amount of jet lag. I think its okay. As long as we're back on the same page now."
Buffy pulled Castle down to her and landed her lips on his in a slow and exploratory kiss. They broke apart and their breath swirled in the frozen air between them.
"Same page. Yes. Got it." Castle whispered as he pulled Buffy back into him.
They kissed passionately now, all lips, tongues and little love bits in between. Castle brushed his hands down Buffy's back and under her coat while Buffy tightened her grip around Castle's neck.
They broke apart, both panting now.
"Wow." Buffy whispered.
"Yeah. That." Castle agreed, at a loss for words. He bent his forehead down to Buffy's.
"That was kind of amazing, Author Boy." Buffy said, lightly pecking him on the lips.
"Author Boy?" Castle questioned.
"It's what Spike kept calling you."
"Can he not?"
"He could…but he probably won't. Especially if he knows it annoys you."
"Was that him I passed in the hall earlier?"
"Yup" Buffy said, nuzzling Castle's neck.
"He seemed a little pale. Is he sick or something?"
Buffy leaned back a little but and raised her eyebrow. Surely she'd mentioned the vamp thing before? Right? Or not….
"Nope, not sick."
They stood silently, still entwined, while Castle contemplated what Buffy wasn't saying.
And then it hit him.
"Oh-my-god-he's-a-vampire." Castle rushed out.
Buffy giggled. "Yep."
"You're supposed to kill them. Not make eyes at them, you know."
"I used to think that."
"And?"
"And….and then I learned that not all monsters are bad. Some actually want to help you." she shrugged.
"He's not your only monster ex, is he?"
"Nope." she grinned.
It was crazy how the day had started versus how it was ending. She'd experienced every mood in the book today but she was pretty damn happy she was ending on 'euphoric'.
"Hmm….only vampires or..?"
"Why so curious, Mr. Castle? Jealous?" she smirked.
"Actually, I'm toying around with some new characters for the book, he admitted with a sheepish grin.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Can we go inside now? I'm freezing."
"Oh, do you need to be warmed up?" Castle asked, suggestively.
"Most definitely."
"Best idea I've heard in over a week!"