CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"Buffy!" he shouted as he ran to catch up with her. When he was within touching distance he grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around to face him. "Can I firstly say, ow? And secondly, I know I deserved it."

"Who the hell do you think you are, Spike? You don't know me anymore! How dare you say those things about me?"

"Did I not just say I deserved that punch? Look, Buffy, I didn't come out here to start another fight; the last thing I want is for me to leave on bad terms."

"Leave? Ohhhh, here it comes, you've been back what? A few weeks? Now you're just gonna go again because things around here aren't to your liking? Because now I have responsibilities? Well I'm sorry you came back only to find out that life without you didn't stop; my life didn't pause because you left! So have fun! Go see whatever there is to see! Drop off the face of the freaking earth for all I care because I have a man that loves me and is willing to step up and be a father to Amelia!"

"What? You're back with Angel?"

"Yeah, I'm back with Angel. He's a real man that's gonna take care of me and Amelia, not a little boy who sometimes likes to play house!"

"You really think that's what that was Buffy? I care about you and I'm not gonna stand by and watch you make the biggest mistake of your life with Captain Forehead!"

"It's not your choice, Spike! And you won't be here to watch me do anything anyway! You're leaving, remember? Again! So go! Live your life and stay the hell out of mine!" She spun and ran away from him, going as fast as her feet would carry her in the ridiculously uncomfortable heels she'd decided to wear.

XXXX

Spike strode back into The Bronze and sat down at the table with Doyle and the girls. "Did you find her?" asked Dawn.

"Yeah. Why didn't you lot tell me she was back with Peaches?" he asked sadly, taking the shot of Jack that Doyle had just poured for him.

"She is?" Dawn asked in confusion.

"Apparently so, Niblet. Least that's what she screamed at me on the sidewalk outside. Thought the ponce was married. What happened to Mrs. Forehead?"

Dawn clenched her hand into a fist in her lap. "He left her and came over to see Buffy yesterday to ask her to get back together with him, but she told me she hadn't decided if she was going to or not. Guess she made up her mind. Sorry, Spike."

Spike shrugged before downing another shot. "Just makes things easier I guess."

"What do you mean?" asked Tara.

"I leave for Argentina on Friday, just makes it a clean break now doesn't it?" he said, raising another shot and toasting them before knocking it back.

"No, Spike, you can't leave. Not again," said Dawn, suddenly near tears.

Spike wrapped his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. "Hey, Niblet, don't cry. I'll write to you all the time, I promise, and when school's out you can come visit me wherever I am, ok?"

"No, you don't understand, Spike. You can't go! You can't! She needs you even if Buffy won't admit it, she needs you!"

"Willow, what is she yammering about?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have no idea. Dawn, what 'she' are you talking about?"

"Amelia! She needs her father!"

"What?" asked Doyle in shock as he looked between Dawn and his equally shocked brother.

Spike was surprised that his voice came out sounding somewhat normal as he asked quietly, "Niblet, are you sayin' that I'm Amelia's father? That it's not Angel?"

"No, it's not him, it's you! You're Amelia's dad and you know you are! You feel it! I see it in your eyes every time you hold her. She's yours, Spike!"

"Oh my God," he gasped, his face as white as a sheet.