Like a ticking time bomb, Buffy blew up. Every pent up emotion came flooding out of her. It was in that moment that Spike recognised he no longer wanted to kill her. He was awestricken. There's a profound beauty to the Slayer. A beauty that she has never allowed the world to see. Her friends and family live in complete ignorance of her inner turmoil. But now, hidden in the shadows of a cemetery, Spike is witness to it all. Never in a million years would he have imagined the Slayer, so strong and so powerful on the outside, was just as weak and as vulnerable deep down on the inside.
Of course it's not something he ever expected to behold. Being her enemy and all. Her strength and power alone are remarkable. Time and time again she has conquered him in battle, she has endured more pain and suffering than most endure in a lifetime, and she is wise beyond her years. It's astounding, she is merely a babe to this world, and already, she alone, caries the weight of this very world on her shoulders.
Sure her friends and family know that she is the Slayer, the Chosen One, the One who alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. But they cannot comprehend what it is, to actually be the Slayer. They see what she wants them to see. Her strength. Her mask. Now that Spike's eyes have been opened to what really lies within the Slayer, he sees, Buffy did not choose this life, she was chosen. Yet with every passing day she takes what life has to throws at her with a happy smile on her face, and heartache deep inside her soul.
With this new knowledge, Spike has made it his duty to do everything in his power to protect the Slayer. To protect the very soul she hides from the world. He would be her solace, he would be her salvation. And with his newfound fate, Spike steps out of the darkeness, toward the wreck that is Buffy.