A/N: If you're here for the Spike and Saff content, keep the faith and please keep reading! Thank you so much for the comments, favs and everything, you've all made my day, my week, my month - even my year xoxo

Chapter 5:

Saffron had on a black slip dress and fishnet tights that she had predictably paired with her combat boots, her shiny hair kept moving in front of her face as she tried to concentrate, she had left her hair down for once and it had been annoying her all afternoon. She was balancing on a ladder while she tried to fasten a birthday sign in the college rec room they had borrowed for the evening. There were streamers and balloons lying all over the floor that she still had to put up as the others were sat on the floor trying to plan out the best way to get Buffy to come later that evening.

"You know, this would go quicker if you lot helped me" She called down to Xander, Anya and Willow.

"I don't want to, I find it very boring" Anya said plainly as Xander gave her a look.

"Fair enough. Willow?" Saff pleaded, "Is there no magic you could do to make this quicker?"

"Sorry, Saffy," She shrugged "The magics need to be respected, I can't"

"Yeah and the streamers would probably turn into live snakes at midnight" Xander added unhelpfully and Saff laughed as Willow frowned. Saffron had been happier recently as there hadn't been any fainting or feeling ill. She had been ignoring the research she had piling up on empathy under her bed and had been focusing all of her attention on the big surprise party for Buffy. She hopped down the ladder, finally content with the placement of the sign as she started to attach balloons and streamers to the walls and ceiling. It took her a while and guests had already started to drop in before she had finished.

They had decided that Willow would pretend there was a big demon in the rec room and they needed her help. Saff had made a big point of saying that if it all went wrong she didn't want to be involved in their plan. Willow seemed to take a long time as they all waited in the dark to surprise Buffy. Saffron felt nervous about the party, she had put a lot of effort into it because she knew Buffy hadn't had the best luck with birthdays in the past and she needed the distraction. Buffy ran in as Saffron and the others all jumped up to surprise her. Saff was relieved when Buffy smiled at their outburst and walked over to greet her friends. Giles had arrived a little before Buffy had, and Saffron had been pleased as she wasn't sure if he would show. Music had started playing and Saffron danced around the room casually checking in with people she recognised. Anya and Xander had left Giles on his own in the corner and Saffron walked over to greet him.

"Thanks for coming G" Saff smiled at him warmly, "Wouldn't be the same without you"

"Well, I, um, yes I am happy to come and celebrate" Giles smiled at Saffron's affection.

"Giles! Having a good time?" Buffy had walked over with Riley in tow, "Hey, Saff you remember Riley" She motioned at him as Saff smiled politely. Giles was shocked to hear that Buffy was dating Riley and Saffron noticed that he was feeling a bit embarrassed and left out as he was handed a slice of cake. Another man, who had a very similar look to Riley walked over who Saffron didn't recognise. Riley and the guy greeted as if they were brothers and Saffron watched them interact closely. Riley noticed Saff watching them and introduced them as Buffy continued talking to Giles on her own.

"Saffron, this is Miller. Uh, Graham Miller" Riley caught himself calling Graham what he would in the initiative.

"Hi there Miller, Graham Miller" Saffron winked and shook his outstretched hand as if she always greeted people like that, when in fact she rarely shook hands with anyone.

"Thanks for the introduction Riley" He laughed nervously as he looked at the girl he had just been introduced to, he found Saffron very pretty and he didn't know what to say to her.

"It was very cool, like James Bond. Maybe you should become a secret agent or something" Saffron joked but did so to see if he reacted to what she said. She suspected he was in the Initiative as well, mainly because he looked too clean cut and collected but perhaps she was being paranoid. He didn't show any emotion but he quickly changed the subject.

"Do you study here?" He asked as Riley moved back to stand beside Buffy. Graham hadn't taken his eyes off Saffron since she had been introduced and wanted to continue the conversation.

"Yep, can't escape good old Sunny D" She laughed as she took a big sip of her alcoholic drink and drained the cup, she had a strange wave of nerves wash over her as she felt like she wanted his approval, "Oh look, my cup is empty, would you like to get me a drink?" she asked playfully as he smiled, about to reply before there was a faint beeping in his back pocket.

"Of course, doll. Maybe we could meet up tomorrow night and I could buy you a coffee or something" He smiled hoping she would agree, she was intriguing to him. She seemed different from the other girls he had spoken to since he had moved to the town and not just because she had an unusual accent. Her cheeks were tinted pink as he had called her doll and he wrote down his number on her hand quickly before he rushed towards the door.

"It's a date then" Saffron smiled sweetly as she watched him leave. Saffron didn't know what had come over her, she wasn't usually that overt when she flirted with people. He had kind eyes and she couldn't help finding him intriguing. Buffy gave her a knowing smile from across the room and Willow had given her a thumbs up as she continued to enjoy the party.

xoxoxo

Saffron had been nervous all day, she had called Graham and asked what time he had wanted to meet, he had said he would meet her in the centre at 8p.m. Saffron had taken all of her clothes out of her wardrobe and had thrown them all over the floor as she had tried to find an outfit for her date. Hayley was so excited for her when she found out she was going on a date, she was almost bouncing off the walls of their shared dorm. Hayley was always bubbly and kind to Saff and they got on well although she wasn't aware of what really goes on after dark in Sunnydale. This was refreshing to Saffron though, as they could talk about normal things like who had stolen their socks from the laundry room. She ended up wearing a borrowed pale pink wrap dress from Hayley, and she had done her makeup softer than usual to match. Saffron hadn't worn anything that wasn't a dark colour in a long time, but she decided she wanted to try something different; much like she was by going on this date.

Saffron walked through the streets from her dorm, the night was cool and refreshing and she was deep in thought as she walked towards the fountain where she had planned to meet Graham. She felt herself full of nerves as she thought about things to talk to him about. Living on a Hellmouth? No, probably not. Being related to a slayer? No way. Vampires? Definitely no-

"Well, well what do we have here?" Spike smirked, interrupting her conversation with herself, as he slowly raked his eyes up and down her body. He had never seen her wearing anything like it. He appreciated the way the dress clung to her curves and looked at her with wonder as he noticed that she looked a lot softer and more girly, and he was surprised to note that it looked good on her but he definitely preferred her usual look.

"Not now, Spike" Saffron snapped, as she tried to walk straight past him. His reflexes were a lot quicker than hers, and he stepped directly in her path.

"Why are you in such a hurry, pet? You look as sweet as honey" He purred as he alluded to the way she tasted all those years ago, but in reality he wanted her to stay and talk to him.

"I'm late for my date, Spike. Just move" She ordered tiredly, sick of him always turning up and making comments. Her response had come out a lot angrier than she had anticipated, and she could feel an anger bubbling inside her that she wasn't sure was her own emotions or not. Spike's chest dropped at her words, his jaw tensed and he stared hard as he took in what she said. He shrugged and tried to convince himself he didn't care as he grabbed to light up a cigarette for something to do with his hands. Saffron walked round him and this time he let her, as he stared after her as she hurried towards where she had agreed to meet Graham.

Spike waited until she was out of eyesight, before he started to follow her from afar. Just to make sure the guy wasn't some big bad, he told himself, he would never hear the end of it from the Slayer if her cousin got eaten by something nasty and he'd just let it happen. He was hiding in the distance as Saffron finally arrived at the fountain where she smiled at a tall guy that Spike recognised but just couldn't place him. He rolled his eyes at the clean-cut guy as he realised why she was dressing like that, to fit in with him. Spike couldn't escape the thought that he wanted her to dress up with him in mind, not this prat. He scoffed and started to turn away, before he caught her leaning up to kiss the man on the cheek. Jealousy bubbled inside Spike and he wanted to hit something demon-y as soon as possible.

Graham smiled when he saw Saffron walking over and offered his arm to her as they walked towards the café linked together.

"You look beautiful, if you don't mind me saying, doll" Graham broke the silence as Saffron went pink to match her borrowed dress.

"Thanks, mate thought I'd try something new" She broke from his side and twirled in her dress with a dramatic flare to try to prove she wasn't embarrassed. In reality, she had been checking her reflection in every window they passed as she was not used to wearing something so bright and form fitting. She silently cursed herself for saying the word 'mate' hoping he hadn't noticed and would try to slip in a lie that it meant something else in England.

When they arrived at the sweet little café, Saffron got a strange feeling like she wasn't supposed to be there. She shrugged it off as Graham pulled out a seat for her at the table they had chosen. She smiled and thanked him, not used to the gentleman routine, as she sat opposite his seat. They looked at each other and shared a brief silence before they both laughed and started to chat easily about their days and what they had done the previous weekend. Saffron had had to edit her story quite a lot, as that weekend she had helped the others defeat a cult of vampires who had been sacrificing virgins to a Vampire deity they called 'The One'. She didn't realise that Graham had also changed a lot of his story, as he had been tracking the same cult, only when him and his team had got there everything had mysteriously been taken care of. They had laughed and talked for all of about twenty minutes before they were rudely interrupted.

"You! I thought I told you not to show your face here" The greying old woman pointed a flabby finger at Saffron and waved it around. Her eyes seemed to flash red with anger and steam appeared to be pouring out of her ears as she had spotted Saffron from where she had been stood behind the counter.

"Can't a girl get a drink without being harassed in her favourite coffee shop?" Saffron tried not to insult the miserable old crone that stood before her as if she owned the place, which, to be fair she actually did. Saffron could feel the fiery emotions crackling like electricity, angry electricity, as she tried to figure out how to explain this to Graham.

"You aren't just drinking coffee though are you, hun? You're selling your soul to Satan every time you come in here. I've seen you, you evil witch!" The woman's voice got higher and higher as she got red in the face from shouting at the young brunette.

"Hey-" Graham started to stand and defend Saff, but she cut in before he could carry on.

"Calm it, you old trout. I'm gone, okay?" Saffron sighed, glancing apologetically at Graham as she grabbed his hand, and lead the way out of the coffee house. She noticed the anger disappear as they had walked up the street and away from the coffee place.

"Sorry about that, I must have been kicked out of that one" Saffron wouldn't meet his eyes. He stared at her, shocked and only slightly impressed.

"What for?"

"Probably taking readings" She shrugged, deciding to just come clean.

"Readings?"

"Yeah, um, Tarot. Just something my Mum used to teach me, like a hobby" Saffron rushed out, knowing Graham must think she was ridiculous. He didn't really have anything to say to that, he hadn't ever believed in stuff like that as he was a very science-led guy. But since working for the Initiative his mind had been opened, even a fraction. And that's why he did what he did.

He turned to face her as they stood on the corner of the street, he looked down into her grey eyes, that he decided looked like they sparkled like frost on a winter's morning, as she finally looked back at him. He leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips and leaned back, a little embarrassed.

"Wh-what was that for?" She stumbled over her words, trying to steady herself. She hadn't expected that.

"You are just full of surprises, Dollface" He mused, he stood there as if he was trying to figure her out at that very moment. She was so different from him, more chaotic but he had been in awe of her since they had met. She had made him laugh and she already knew Riley who seemed to get on with her. He wanted her to be his, but he was too much of a gentleman to presume anything more than their date. Saffron was the first to break their eye contact as she felt a sudden chill, she started to mention going back to her dorm, and Graham gallantly offered to walk her to the door as she accepted.

"So, should we do this again? Maybe somewhere that you're not gonna get us kicked out of?" Graham laughed, as she cringed slightly.

"I'd really like that" She replied genuinely as she leaned up to kiss him as he turned his head to face her and caught her lips. The kiss was pleasant and short as Saffron pulled away and ran up to her dorm, turning behind her to wave before she was out of his sight.

xoxoxo

The next morning Willow, Saffron and Buffy were sat around a table in the college canteen, they had decided to have brunch to catch up on everything. Buffy wouldn't stop smiling and Saffron couldn't help smiling too, she could feel the happiness like rays of warm sunshine, and it was infectious.

"I like pancakes cos they're stackable. Ooh, and waffles, cos you can put things in the little holes if you wanted to"

"What's your position on omelettes?" Saffron asked, jokingly. She ate a forkful of her own omelette as she laughed when Buffy started to answer, after considering it for a few minutes.

"You should always have a new boyfriend" Willow replied happily, "You're so much fun right now"

"Hey, I didn't hear you come in last night, Will. Where were you?" Buffy inquired as Saff dug into her brunch.

"The chem lab, by myself." Willow said quickly and this made Saffron stop eating abruptly. She could feel that Willow was lying, she couldn't explain how but she just knew it. She looked up in confusion as Will continued, "I was trying this new spell, floating a rose, when all of a sudden, zing, zing, zing. Like, all around the room. It was like a rose-based missile"

"Shit" Saffron replied to her story, still staring at Willow and wondering why she would lie, and more importantly how she knew that Will was lying.

"I know. I think there's something out there" She continued as Saff nodded, having felt it herself last night when she had bumped into Spike. Rage and power.

"I'll tell Giles about it. Or maybe I'll tell Maggie. She seemed interested in the mystical side of the demon-hunting biz"

"Tell Giles. He's feeling a little hurt right now. Neither of you showed last night"

"Sorry kids, I had a big date" Saffron winked and fanned herself theatrically.

"Ooh! How did it go?!" Buffy asked her cousin excitedly.

"Well, it was a short date. Lots of laughing and then we got slightly kicked out of the venue. But it ended in some light kissage so, overall probably one of the best dates I've been on"

"You were what!?" Buffy looked horrified

"It's cool, Buff! There was kissing he wasn't put off me" Saff moved her hand as if to swat a fly as Buffy still looked mortified about her cousin being kicked out of a café. Willow had been listening to Saff patiently and smiled when she heard that she'd had a good date and laughed fondly when she heard she had been kicked out. Typical Saffron. But she needed to ask Buffy about why she hadn't told Giles about Riley. Buffy had decided she was going to make it up to Giles, said her goodbyes to the others and went to meet Riley for their day together.

After Buffy had left, Saffron turned her attention back to Willow and wondered how she should go about asking about the lie.

"Why did you lie?" Saffron blurted out. Great, subtle. Willow turned to look at her with a mouth full of waffle and a frown on her face. She made a noise through her mouthful that seemed to ask her to elaborate. "When Buff asked where you were, you looked like you were lying" Saff watched as Willow went red and her eyes darted around the room. She was about to open her mouth and say something to Saffron, and Saffron could feel that she was scared which puzzled her more. However, before she could say anything Xander rushed in shouting about a massive demon that had woken him up that morning.

xoxoxo

The whole gang had assembled and had decided to find Giles, as he would know what to do about the demon that Xander saw. Saffron had a strange feeling of dread as they walked up to the front door but kept it to herself as she listened to Xander describe what he had seen that morning. They got to the door to find it was off the hinges and everything in the usually immaculate room was trashed as if there had been a struggle. Saffron just stared at the room, concerned that there was something much more to the story.

"Oh, God, Giles"

"OK. There's a demon and Giles is gone. But it doesn't mean that he's hurt. I mean, there's no blood anywhere, so maybe the demon just took him somewhere."

"Yeah I mean maybe he's tracking it or he's out and the demon used his place for a wicked house party" Saff tried to think of possibilities when all she could feel was this anger she had felt earlier along with this influx of power.

"I think it ate him up" Anya cut in, as she held up one of Giles' ripped up shirts. They sat down in silence after this, all of them worried sick. Soon after Buffy delegated research tasks to everyone as Xander described what he saw. They were all looking through books when two men ran through the doorframe where the front door used to be and into the centre of the room.

"Riley"

"Graham" Saffron and Buffy called at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" They spoke in unison and looked at each other before turning back to their respective commando. Saffron walked over to Graham and put her hands on her hips, hoping for an explanation. "So you're one of them soldier boys I've heard so much about" She stated, not asking him. Graham looked at her in shock as she knew his identity then looked over to Riley who was talking animatedly to Buffy about the whole initiative being able to find Giles.

"I guess I am" Graham smiled, not sure what this meant for either of them.

"We help Buffy get rid of, what is it you call them again? Hostiles? So your secrets safe with me" Saffron reached to squeeze his hand and smiled reassuringly as she felt relief pour from him. In fact, this revelation made Graham want to get to know her more. He had always resenting keeping so much a secret from his past girlfriends, although he cared too much about protocol to ever tell anyone. But this time, with her, it was different. She had already found out. He wasn't as love-blind as Riley was, their relationship was very new after all, but he could definitely see himself with her in the future.

"Thanks, princess. So, how about we meet up again and talk through it all after this is over?" Graham asked, as Saff scrunched up her nose at his nickname for her.

"Sure, as long as you never call me princess again, Commando"

"That's a promise" Graham laughed as she saluted him and Riley went to catch Graham up on everything that he knew about Buffy and the others.

Buffy and Riley had gone to the magic shop to figure out who could be controlling the Fyarl demon. About an hour after they had left, Graham had started to pace. He had felt out of his depth when Riley explained everything, but something made him stay. Someone. He got a radio call to come to a motel across town and he slipped out of the door frame as the phone rang and Saffron picked it up.

"Rupert Giles' residence, how may I direct your call?" Saffron put on her most stereotypical English accent, it made her sound like she was from the South of England like where Giles was from. The others giggled despite their worry as they waited to hear who was on the other end.

"It's Ethan Rayne. We're going to deal with him now, stay where you are" Buffy spoke hurriedly and she put the phone down before Saffron could reply.

"It's bloody Ethan Rayne" Saffron rolled her eyes, "Why do all these English twats have to come over here and start playing at evil mastermind"

"Uh, Saff? You're English" Xander pointed out.

"Yeah but do you see me running around in a cape and summoning freaky demons to rampage around the Hellmouth?" she sighed as she looked around for Graham, only to realise he had gone. She really didn't like Ethan, and she felt annoyed she couldn't punch him herself.

Her chestnut coloured hair had been put into an elaborate up-do with small plaits woven throughout her hair. She had on a tight, blood red corset and a black leather skirt that she had paired with her combat boots that were becoming her trademark. A black, lacy choker was fastened around her neck and she kept on her usual silver chains and rings. She ran her tongue over her new fangs, and felt her forehead with her hands, her nails were so long and sharp that she felt like she could claw someone's eye out with one wrong move and this made her laugh. They had been painted black, and her skin was porcelain white, noticeably paler than her usual skin tone. Her lips had been painted dark red, as she smirked and ran a hand down her body before stalking out into the night. She could smell the fear and chaos around her and it made her smile with intent as she walked, cat-like through the streets to find her prey.

"Honeysuckle" He purred with a smirk on his face that they were alone together. He had been expecting some hint of fear or a scream as he stepped out from the shadows, but he didn't see any reaction from her, except a knowing smile. His chest lifted as he saw her smile and wondered why she would gift him this moment, before thinking back to Drusilla. You love Dru you bloody nit, he told himself. She walked up to him slowly, swaying her hips seductively as she reached out to stroke his cheek, he grabbed her wrist before she made contact with his face. He frowned when he couldn't feel a pulse and looked up at her with confusion, studying her face intently.

"Are you-"

"Yep, I'm one of you" She smirked as she changed to reveal her fangs and her ridged forehead.

"Who?" Spike asked, with an edge of jealousy in his voice before he dropped her wrist and turned from her. He wanted to know who had turned her. She ran her hands up his chest, and slowly past his neck and held them on each side of his cheek. She didn't answer his question, she had other things in mind.

"Let me show you how I really taste, Spike" She whispered seductively, as she leaned in close. There was barely any space between them. She leaned up and passionately kissed him and he returned the kiss with equal passion as he brought his hands to her waist. He was enjoying the kiss but realised that he was supposed to be with Dru. He pushed her off him and held her at arm's length.

"I don't think so, love" Spike tried to play it off that he hadn't wanted to carry on that kiss. Saffron shrugged, seemingly not bothered about the rejection as she moved from his grip.

"Someday soon you will feel the weight of your eternity and miss the way I could have made you feel. I'll see you in your dreams, Spike. Do I feel the same?" She swaggered off, leaving Spike to stare after her as he touched his lips where she had kissed them.

"I think I should kill something now" Saffron told herself as she walked around looking for something human-y to bite. Luckily, they had all returned to normal soon after that.

As much as she had dreamed about the day that Spike had tried to bite her at school, she had equally dreamed about the night she had become a vampire on Halloween. She had been so confident it scared her, and she convinced herself that the kiss was a result of the spell that had been cast by Ethan. Spike had also thought about that night since, and the words she had spoken to him often found themselves in his head.