"Hey," Buffy said a few moments later, her hand limply reaching up to point at Dean. "I have something to tell you."
Dean looked up from the Impala's engine he had been desperately trying to put back together. He walked over to Buffy and grabbed her hand that had been pointing to him.
"You said.." Buffy swallowed, trying to get the words to come out of her mouth correctly. "You said it… And I didn't say it back."
Dean dropped her hand like it was on fire and stepped away from her. "And you sure as hell aren't saying it to me now. There will be time for that later."
"Dean, listen…"Buffy tried to reach back out to him, but he moved further away.
"No." he said. "I'm not hearing it. I don't want your words now, here, when you think you're gone and you think you're dying. I want to hear it later when we are laughing at stupid late night television. I want to hear it when we are picking Dawn up from school together. I want to hear it when you think Sammy isn't listening. I want to hear it first thing when you wake up in the morning. But I do not want to hear it now."
Buffy groaned as Dean walked back to the front of the Impala. "I've dated two vampires, I deal with demons every day, and I fight with old stuffy Englishmen on a regular basis, but YOU, Dean Winchester, are the most stubborn man I have ever met."
Dean didn't move from the front of the car. He was almost there. He could do this.
"Fine." Buffy said. "All of this is on your head then."
Gritting her teeth, she used her legs to push her back up the side of the Impala until she was standing. Using one hand to steady herself, she inched to the front of the car, leaving bloody handprints all along its side. Dean saw her coming around the edge of the Impala just in time to run around and catch her from falling.
"Buffy," he said, desperation creeping into his voice. "You need to stay still. You need to stay with me."
Buffy reached her hand up to grab his chin. "Then listen." she said angrily.
"I haven't said it to anyone in a long time. I haven't said it to Giles. I haven't said it to Willow. I haven't even said it to Dawn. So when I say that I am a little out of practice, I'm not lying. But when I say it to you, I want you to know how much I mean it." Her grip on his chin loosened, and she moved her hand to his cheek. Her thumb moved gently back and forth along his cheekbone, and Dean knew he was crying now.
"Please don't," he whispered. "Please don't say it."
"Fine," Buffy said. "But I want you to know that I regret not saying it. I should have said it back. I wanted to say it back."
Buffy's hand was sticky on Dean's face, but he didn't move it. There was too much to lose in this moment. Everything was happening way too fast.
He knew that he couldn't fix the car. He had known the moment he had left the house that there was no way out of this. But he couldn't just let her go. He couldn't just let her die without trying every stupid little chance he had.
"Please," he said, dropping his forehead to touch hers. "Tell me what to do. I need to stop this from happening."
"It's a little late now," Buffy murmured.
Dean closed his eyes tightly, praying for someway, anyway. Then he glanced up, and took one final look around. There. That was it. A shot in the dark, but it was their last shot.
"Just hold on, Buff," he said, picking her up gingerly. "Stay with me just a little longer."
Buffy didn't reply.