Ring on her Finger

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

….

Chapter 2

Everyone gathered at Giles' apartment the next afternoon. A night's rest had done an amazing job at helping the Scoobies look and feel better. Willow was busy making cookies in the kitchen while Xander was testing Giles' newly regained vision over by the sofa. Buffy sat down in the bar chair across from Spike who was tied against the dining room chair. Spike was still in the same clothes that he had worn the night before. Spike was sitting there with irritation playing around his mouth. You could tell the little happy family scene being played out in front of him was obviously annoying to him. Buffy couldn't keep herself from staring at Spike . She reasoned with herself that he was dangerous and needed to be watched. "How exactly was he dangerous?" she thought. They had only tied his chest to the chair leaving his arms free. Any decent vampire could have easily freed himself from that situation. It was almost like he was using the fact that he was tied up as an excuse for him staying there, she thought. It was kinda endearing….Buffy suddenly shifted in her chair. It occurred to her that it was kinda creepy to associate nice words with Spike. Must be the spell, she reasoned.

Buffy shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts as Willow approached her with a plateful of cookies.

"Have a cookie? Ease my pain?" Willow said with plaintive eyes.

Buffy picked up a cookie and took a large bite.

"Better?" She said with a mouthful of cookie.

Spike turned his eyes up away from the girls continued to talk about Willow's regrets over the past night's events.

"Don't I get a cookie?" interrupted Spike.

"No." came Buffy's retort.

"Well, I've got to have something. I still have Buffy taste in my mouth." Spike said distastefully.

"You're a pig, Spike." Buffy's eyes narrowing.

"Yeah. Well, I'm not the one that wanted Wind Beneath my Wings for the first dance" he announced to the entire room.

Everyone on the sofa, slowly turned their heads to regard the pair.

"That was the spell…." Explained Buffy as she scuttled out of the room.

…..

Later that day, after she had spoken to Riley about the whole "I'm engaged!" thing as being a big joke, she got to thinking about engagement. "It was such a joke". She snickered to herself. "To think me, being engaged. Who would have ever conceived of such an idea? Ha, ha, Hey, what's so funny about that? I could be engaged. I am a catch! You got that right!. Spike would be….Spike? I mean Riley. Yeah, Riley. Good old Riley, good guy, steadfast, all American good guy. He was as steadfast as vanilla ice cream. Hmmm, that can get kinda boring…What am I thinking! Marriage is too far off to even think about with Riley. If I was ever going to marry anyone, it was going to be someone human. I mean Angel was not human, but he was not marrying material. The constant brooding which was sexy to a sixteen year old girl, but it would have gotten a little old by the first anniversary in a marriage. It was a little too Wuthering Heights, if you know what I mean."

Buffy started to make a list of the qualities in her dream guy as she walked along. "I would like to marry a kind a guy that would be an equal in the relationship, but not afraid to show his tender side. Someone, who was so at home with himself that he didn't pretend to be anything else around others. Someone who was strong in their own right and not easily intimidated. He would not pull any power trips, but treat me as an intelligent woman capable of making her own decisions. Yeah, that would be a change from the other men currently in my life! He, also, wouldn't so serious that they couldn't have any fun. He would be romantic, surprising her at unexpected times, sweeping her off her feet. There would be great drawn out brawls between them and even greater making up afterwards. He would have such a good heart that he would let her win all the big fights, because he wanted to make her happy. He wouldn't be threatened that she was a slayer,…. in fact he would support it, and…and…and maybe even…, yeah maybe…. even revel in it." There was a moment where Buffy just let her inner dialog just settle in her mind. "Somehow.. Wha? Uh? Did that description seemed familiar? It was like she was describing someone she knew….But, Huh?...Oh, keep dreaming! Come on, Slayer, cut out the silly fantasies!" As turned the corner, the rock on her left hand twinkled.

As she walked through the quad, she realized it was getting late. She decided to head home to prepare for tonight's patrol. She thought she would stop by Giles before she went to the cemetery, just to check on Spi… the situation. Darn, was she ever going to get him out of her mind?

Author note: Next chapter, it is going to start getting fun!