Another silence formed as they drove, with the exception of Buffy giving him various directions, after about 15 minutes he pulled to a stop in front of her house.

"This is where I set you free…" Spike said as he turned towards her.

Buffy was silent as she stared at her house, she hated being home alone. Spike leaned in a bit, "You alright?"

Buffy snapped out of her world yet again, "Ya… just hate being home alone… brings back…" She trailed off as she thought about her reasoning.

"Brings back what?" Spike said, really becoming concerned now.

"I-just…" Buffy sighed, "When I was 8 a man broke into our house… he held me and my mom at gun point until he had finished raiding the place. It was the longest hour of my life. And it still scares me…" She sighed, "Plus my mom is working overnight. So I get to spend a long night by myself, scared for my life…"

Spike frowned, "You're going to be home alone? After something like that?" he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a minute then put the car back in gear and pulled into Buffy's drive way. "I'll make you a deal, luv…" It was late in the evening and he felt his American accent beginning to recede, "you treat me to some dinner and I'll stay late and watch out for any boogey men?"

Buffy smiled and nodded, "That would be nice…" She opened the car door and got out as Spike turned off the car. He joined her on the porch as she unlocked the door, "Come in…" She said as she hung her coat.

Spike followed in timidly and closed the door behind him, silently taking in the place. His eye's scanned the décor until they finally landed on Buffy who was standing before him.

"I'm just going to go take a shower…" She said with a small smile, "You can… watch TV… make yourself comfy… we have a small variety of movies…" she slowly backed away and headed up stairs, leaving Spike to fend for himself.

He sat on one of the couches and tried to relax, but to no prevail. Soon he stood up and began exploring the house with a curious demeanour. He made it all the way around the first floor before he stopped at the stairs and stared up, soon finding himself travelling up them without thinking. He heard the shower running, so Spike didn't have to worry so much about being quiet. He opened each door, eventually landing on what appeared to be Buffy's room.

Timidly he stepped inside and looked around for a moment; it was nice, and looked like an average teenager's room. Some picture's covered the walls, she had a few stuffed animals, then he was most interested in was the pink pig. He picked it up and gave it a soft pet, then sat it back down. Suddenly he heard the water turn off, "Shit…" He tried to bolt from the room but tripped over one of the bed's legs, "Shit… ow ow ow…" He said as quietly as he could and he went to the door.

Quickly he slipped out of Buffy's room and ran for the stairs, sadly though he failed on the first step down and fell with a loud *thud* if Buffy didn't hear that, she's deaf.

In the bathroom Buffy perked up, hearing a loud thud outside, she wrapped a towel around her body and went out of the bathroom, no one was in sight. She shrugged it off and went across the hall to her room. Quickly she got dressed in a white spaghetti strap top and a pair of sweats, nothing fancy. She looked in the mirror and pulled her hair up into a ponytail, then left her room and went down the stairs.

She came down to see her teacher, sitting in her living room watching Star Trek on WGN. She smiled and went into the living room. "Did you hear a loud, like thud or something?"

Spike mocked deep thought, "Ahhhh… no… nothing…" He shook his head and his mouth dropped open a bit as he took in her outfit. To her it was nothing special, but for him, she would look beautiful in anything. Seeing her practically bare shoulder's had him a bit speechless.

Buffy blushed and held an arm around her, "I'm going to go get food…" She slowly backed out of the living room and into the kitchen. She stood there wondering what food they should have, "Our choices are... strawberry yogurt quesadilla's or... skittle and chicken casserole..." After a couple of minute's she gave up and ordered a meat lover's pizza. She peeked into the living, still not entirely sure if her English teacher was in her house, He is…

How can he act so normal? She thought as she watched him relax on her couch. Quietly she walked into the living room and sat down beside him and stared at the TV. Buffy grimaced and hid her face in Spike's arm, He now had the movie "IT" on and she was not happy about it.

Spike smiled and put an arm around Buffy, holding her close as the crazy clown taunted the kids on the TV. Eventually Buffy relaxed into him and looked up at Spike; he peered down to see her stare. Spike licked his lips as he met Buffy's eyes, slowly he leaned in, and she could feel his breath and almost taste his lips when the door bell rang. They both jumped and Buffy hopped up to answer it.

"$23.48…" The pizza guy said as he chewed his gum.

Buffy glared at the pizza guy and shoved the money at him. She grabbed the pizza and 2-liter she ordered and brought it into the living room. She frowned seeing Spike started to put on his coat, "I should really go…"

Buffy pouted, "But… I bought hot delicious pizza, and… I don't want to be alone…" She said the last part quietly as she sat down on the couch and stared at the floor.

Spike stopped a sad look across his face; he really didn't want to leave her alone for the night. He shook it off and finished with his coat. He left the house without even a goodbye.

Buffy sat quietly, not feeling hungry any longer, just sad, and a bit scared. Suddenly the door opened and Spike came in, "Had to go get my bag…" He said standing in the entryway. Buffy smiled brightly and hopped up to retrieve glasses from the kitchen for their soda.

After a long movie Buffy ended up lying on the couch, with her head resting on Spike's leg. He prayed for all he was worth that she wouldn't notice the effect she was having on him. He peered down and saw Buffy was asleep; he let out a sigh and slowly brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face as he watched the ending credits to their movie.

She stirred a bit and he decided she had to up to her room. So carefully Spike slid out from beneath Buffy's head and then scooped her up into her arms. The trip up the stairs was harder then he thought but he made it safely. As he stepped towards her door his foot hit a creaky floor board and Buffy groaned a moment and wrapped her arms around Spike's neck, "Brilliant…" He said as he opened the door.

Once inside he quickly deposited Buffy onto her bed and tried to detangle her from his neck. Once he finally succeeded he took a step back and smiled as she slept. She was adorable as she slept and soon Spike found himself kneeling next to the girl's bed, lightly gliding a finger over her cheek.

She was soft and sun kissed, with golden locks that fell about her magnificently. She was small, but obviously held more strength then she usually showed. Spike thought more about her eyes, beautiful pools of hazel, and her lips, so soft and full. He finally admitted it to himself. When she softly bit her lip, his insides melted; He had dreamt about kissing her and for moment he basked in thought. Slowly he stood up and softly kissed Buffy's forehead, then went downstairs and quickly fell asleep on the couch.