A/N: Dealing with something that has been bothering me for a while….I think that we all do at some point.

OOOOOOOOO

Spike glanced at the clock and saw that it was the usual time for Calli to get a snack and pop from the kitchen. He waited, but Calli didn't rise from her seat. She continued to type on her computer, not bothering to look at the screen. Or him.

"You're staring," Calli commented after a few minutes.

Spike shifted slightly. "So?"

"I don't like being stared at," Calli told him, her fingers going a mile a minute on her keyboard. "What gives?"

"Just wondering if you needed something," Spike told her, sitting on the corner of her desk. "Something refreshing and snackish."

Calli shook her head. "No, thanks."

Confusion settled over Spike like a heavy blanket. "I could get you a Strawberry Cream Dr Pepper?"

"There's none in the fridge, Spike."

"Right."

Spike moved into the kitchen and opened the fridge. His jaw dropped in complete disbelief. There weren't any pops in there. Not a single one.

"Pet…" Spike said slowly, walking back to her desk. "Where did all your sodas go?"

Calli shrugged. "I didn't buy any this time around."

"Why?" Spike pressed his hand to her forehead. "You feeling okay?"

The witch swatted his hand away from her face. "Quit it! I'm not sick. I just don't want to have pop anymore."

"Then what are you drinking? Because it can't be milk. You're lactose intolerant."

"Water."

"Water?"

"Water."

Spike lifted an eyebrow. "There is no way."

Calli held out her water bottle. "You want to check?"

Spike took the bottle and opened the cap. One sniff told him that she hadn't been lying. There was actual water in the bottle.

"You don't like water, pet. Why are you suddenly drinking it?" Spike asked, handing the bottle back over.

"I am making a health conscious move," Calli said, shaking the bottle. "I'm trying to cut down on pop and switch to the healthy stuff. It's to help me lose this." She poked her soft, squishy belly. "Because it's gross."

Spike rolled his eyes. "It is not! You're adorable and so is the belly that you have." He narrowed his eyes. "You think you're fat because someone told you that you are."

"Spike…"

"Tell me names and I'll make them apologize and pay!"

"Spike!" Calli set the water bottle down hard so that it sloshed. "You are going to do nothing to anyone! I've accepted the fact that I'm overweight for a girl my size. No one really had to tell me that because the mirror already did."

"Well, the mirror lied."

"Spike…"

"Seriously, we don't have a reflection in them. How can they not lie about our existence?"

Calli groaned. "Can't you just accept this?"

"No because you are perfect the way that you are."

"I'm unhealthy the way that I am," Calli countered.

"By some kind of bogus standards." Spike leaned over her. "I love you being happy in your own skin. Not you trying to fit in to someone else's world."

Calli sighed and scooped up her bottle, rising to her feet. "You don't love me then?"

"I never said that."

"You implied it."

Spike followed her to the kitchen. Calli filled her bottle at the sink. She let out a little sound when the vampire spun her around and lifted her to perch on the counter. Spike slid between her legs and rested his hands on her hips.

"Pet, I'm all the way in love with you," Spike told her, holding her gaze for as long as she would let him. "You make me dream of many things. And I want to make them all come true."

Calli looked at him and sighed. "You're strange."

"But you love me."

"I really do," Calli said, draping her hands over his shoulders. "Which is another reason I'm cutting down on sugary drinks."

"What?"

"I want to be healthy and look better whenever you decide to turn me into a vampire."

Spike rested his forehead against hers. "You don't have to change that much for me to turn you. You don't have to change at all. I'll protect you even if you have curves people would kill for."

Calli closed her eyes. "I know."

"And you're a witch. You could magic the unhealthy bits away. Even when you drink pop."

"I know, but that's cheating."

"Calli, pet, you're okay. No matter how you look to the world. No matter what the mirror or the scale says. You are my girl. My number one all the way."

Calli made a small face. "What about Buffy?"

Spike shook his head. "Blondie doesn't hold a candle to what I've got with you. You are it. No one but you."

Calli brushed her lips against his. "Good. Because I want no one but you, Spike."

Spike took the kiss deeper and held her close. He could smell her pheromones picking up and knew what he wanted to do about it.

With ease, Spike picked her up and carried her back to his room. Calli giggled and kissed him tenderly.

"How come we always end up here?" she asked as he laid her down on the bed.

"Because all the best endings are happy ones," Spike told her, rolling his hips against hers. "You can bet this one will end happy."

Calli's eyes seemed to glow. "I love you."

"I love you too, pet."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: What'd you think? Let me know! -Scarlet