Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel! I just take them for spin but always give them back.

Authors note: I have not read the Season 8 comics so I do not consider them canon. Having said that I have heard a few things about them through other fanfic.

Chapter Six

Buffy finally reached Slayer Central with Andrew trailing after her all the way. His fascination with Spike was bordering on obsession and it took all her strength not to snap. What was more unsettling was that she felt like she should tell him to back off and that Spike was hers. She shrugged off the impulse. Spike was not gay but then again vampires were known for swinging every way. She laughed as soon as this thought quickly passed. Even if he was Andrew was no competition after all. She was soon musing again realising that she had referred to Spike as hers. Wow when did that happen. Yes she had told him her was her champion before but never hers. Buffy was still considering her relationship with Spike as they arrived in the door. Andrew took off in the direction of Giles' office while Buffy was waylaid by some of her charges enquiring after her health. After assuring Satsu and Bianca that she was well rested, she walked quickly in the direction of her Watcher's haven. "I swear if Andrew has told Giles about Spike I will kill him" she thought.

Meanwhile back at the Summers' residence Spike and Dawn were deep in conversation.

"So you two looked pretty cosy this morning" Dawn probed.

"Nothing happened, not that it is any of your business, you nosy bint" Spike replied in a light tone.

"I am worried about her, Spike. She has not been the same since that day" the teenager said seriously.

Spike met her worried eyes.

"Losing your home and town is bound to do that to you. You are not the same either" Spike pointed out. She bristled at that.

"It was losing you" Dawn said impatiently, "You are just unwilling to accept that as you feel guilt for not letting us know you were back."

"I know I should have now but then I did what I thought was best. I do not regret wanting the best for my girls."

Dawn's irritation melted a little at that but she made sure her face did not give that away.

"You still have a lot of grovelling to do by the way" Dawn said with a childish pout.

"Hot chocolate and those little marshmallow things?" he offered with a grin.

"You betcha. I could with some chocolaty goodness."

Buffy finally caught up to Andrew in Giles office and was surprised to see that Willow was there as well. Andrew was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. Both Willow and Giles turned to look at Buffy. Giles had a concerned look upon his face.

"Andrew says that you have something to tell us" her Watcher prompted. Buffy took a deep breath in order to gather up the courage to tell them about Spike. She need not have bothered though.

"Spike is back and living in Buffy's house" Andrew announced in a rush.

The young man had a wide grin on his face and Buffy gave him a hard stare.

"Good heavens! Spike is here!" Giles exclaimed and just as Buffy predicted he took off his glasses and polished them furiously.

"Wow Spike back from the dead! How?" Willow demanded.

"Two nights ago Spike turned up on my doorstep" Buffy began, "It turns out he was brought back due to the amulet that Angel brought us from LA".

"Do you think Spike would be amenable to telling me a little about his experiences?" Giles asked.

"I guess you would have to ask him yourself" Buffy replied. She gave them the condensed version of Spike's story. The story was not hers to tell after all.

"Good Lord" Giles muttered finally when she finished.

Willow threw her arms around Buffy and both women's eyes were wet. They held each other for a few moments. Giles coughed politely. The women pulled apart much to Giles' relief. He was always ill at ease with emotional displays.

"And Spike's living in your house now?" Willow finally asked.

Buffy rolled her eyes and glowered at Andrew again.

"Spike is not living in my house"

"He stayed there last night" Andrew said petulantly.

Giles started cleaning his glasses again. He caught Willow's eye and they exchanged a worried glance.

"Buffy are you sure this is a good idea?" Giles asked.

"Spike and I are not sleeping together. We just fell asleep together. I mean it was completely innocent."

"She doth protest too much" Andrew smirked.

"You will get out and go annoy somebody else someplace else!" Buffy roared.

"Giles" he whined.

"Andrew, just go." Giles said impatiently and Andrew huffed but obeyed the older man. Buffy waited until she heard his furious steps could no longer be heard.

"I do not know what is going to happen with Spike and me" Buffy said honestly, "All I know is that I want him to be part of my life".

"You know I am glad that he is back Buffy but your relationship was never healthy" Willow said.

"It was not even a relationship" Buffy laughed hollowly.

"Exactly.." Giles began. Buffy held her hand up to cut him short.

"I am no longer a child. I am an adult who can make her own decisions. I appreciate your concern but any decision regarding my future can only be made by me."

Giles looked sadly at the girl that was practically a daughter to him. That vampire would be the death of him. He knew that Spike loved her. That was clear but he would never be good enough for her.

"I am supposed to have a training class" Buffy said looking at her watch.

"I will walk with you" Willow offered and took her arm.

"He means well you know and we are just worried about you" Willow continued as soon as they were clear of Giles' hearing.

Buffy smiled reassuringly at her worried friend.

"I know Wills but.."

"you love him." Willow said with certain understanding.

"I think so" Buffy whispered and Willow squeezed her hand.

"Be careful" Willow said but Buffy knew that her friend accepted it and it meant a lot.

"I wonder how Buffy's interrogation is going? She was very nervous about it earlier"

Dawn mused.

"I told her she could leave it a little longer if she wanted" Spike said.

"Like she would have been able to keep that quiet with Andrew" Dawn laughed.

"He kept the secret pretty well so far" Spike pointed out.

Dawn snorted and shook her head in disbelief.

"There is no way that Andrew would have been able to keep his mouth shut without spilling to somebody and my money is on Giles".

Spike was about to protest that surely Giles would not have kept that from Buffy but when he thought about it Dawn's assertion seemed likely. When he had asked Andrew to keep quiet he had not really believed that he would. Both Giles and he had wanted to do what they felt was best for Buffy. He could not really hold that against him when he had done the same and he was more at fault.

"That makes sense, Bit," Spike said finally, "do you think Buffy knows?"

Dawn shook her head.

"I expect she soon will. Either Giles or Andrew will slip up. We are keeping quiet though in case we are wrong."

After Buffy was done for the day, she decided to head and see Giles. She hated fighting with him. As she neared the office she could hear the sound of voices coming from within. She was about to walk away when she heard Andrew's voice.

"It is only Andrew so it can't be anything very important" she thought. She raised her hand to knock on the door when something Andrew said caused her to gasp.

"Buffy's angry at me and it is not fair, Giles!" Andrew griped, "after all you knew about Spike being back too."

"You can rest assured that Buffy is angry at me already" Giles said irritated.

Buffy felt betrayed. It was one thing for Spike not to tell her but for Giles to actively keep it from her was worse. She flung open the door. The handle came off in her hand as she had been gripping it so tight. Andrew and Giles looked at the Slayer in shock.

"Yes I was already angry with you" she said addressing Giles, "now I am furious."

She turned to Andrew and he whimpered before she could say a word and fled out the door. She faced her old Watcher again.

"How could you not tell me?" Buffy asked coldly.

"It was Spike's decision. He asked Andrew not to tell you and when he told me of Spike's return I decided to honour his wishes."

"Since when have you ever worried about Spike's wishes?" Buffy scoffed.

"You are right Buffy" he conceded "but I only did what I felt was in your interest in keeping this from you and if Spike had chosen before now to reveal his return I would not have done anything to prevent it."

"Don't make me choose between you? I chose him once and I would do it again."

"I know" he said gently, "I am not asking you to choose, just to reconsider. You managed to get by well enough these past months without him and well he survived without you all this time."

"I already told you once today that I want him to be part of my life. It took losing him to see just how important he is to me."

"Buffy I am sorry for hurting you but I only wanted the best for you."

"I can understand why he did what he did" she said quietly, "I may be good at keeping my feelings locked away but you could see I was hurting and you knew why. You knew he was back and yet you never said a word."

Giles knew there was nothing he could say. She was right but he knew that any relationship between Spike and Buffy could only end in heartbreak. Buffy could feel the tears threatening to come and do she turned and ran out the door.

"Buffy" she vaguely heard Giles calling. She ignored him and dashed through the building. All in her path quickly scampered out of her way and soon she was out the door of the building. She stopped for a minute by the tree at the entrance to catch her breath and compose herself. Tears were still threatening to fall and so the Slayer took off at full speed yet again. This time she did not stop until she arrived at her front door and when she opened the door she walked straight into a hard chest. Spike took the distraught woman into his arms. It was only then that Buffy let herself go and cried.

To be continued...

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am almost done now. Just one more chapter to go but I have an idea for a sequel.