Title: The Games People Play

Author: Gillian Silverlight

Distribution: my site, anyone else who has permission to post my fic, others please ask.

Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. I just play with them.

Summary: Challenge from SheGiles07 : A very stormy night, with the Scoobies and Spike trapped in the old mansion, alcohol and a game of truth or Consequences where Buffy and Spike (and a few other people it seems) get put into some interesting circumstances. (S/B, X/A, W/T/G)

Rating: NC-17

The Games People Play

The Scooby gang had recently felt the need for a break from the usual grind of vampires, demons, monsters, and more vampires. Giles needed to drive down to Los Angeles to pick up some of the more specialized supplies for the Magick Box and everyone took advantage of his errand for an unexpected road trip. Buffy had even offered the use of the Blazer that had been her mother’s prior to her death. The vehicle now belonged to Buffy, but as she still was not one of Sunnydale’s better drivers, the car simply sat most of the time. Giles had remarked that it needed to be driven occasionally for maintance reasons, so Buffy persuaded him to drive, everyone piling in for the trip.

Once Giles had acquired his supplies, he allowed his young charges to persuade him to accompany them down the Third Street Promenade just a few blocks off of the beach in Santa Monica. The girls indulged in a bit of window-shopping, while the male members looked on indulgently for once. Finally stopping at one of the small diners for lunch, they swarmed into the Starbuck’s on the corner afterwards. After indulging in a bit of extra caffine, they made their way over to the beach to relax and play for a couple of hours.

When the group finally called it a day, as far as their outing was concerned, they piled back into the car much happier, if much more tired, and Giles turned the car up the highway toward Sunnydale.

The drive was uneventful, with several of the gang napping in the car until they’d traveled about half of the way home. Buffy, sitting in the passenger seat as Giles drove, remarked on the thickly gathering clouds overhead. Giles attempted to reassure her, feeling they would manage to reach Buffy’s house before the threatening storm caught up with them, however, they were still about fifteen minutes outside of Sunnydale when the thick, charcoal grey clouds spat out a jagged bolt of lightening that seemed to rip the sky open, releasing a torrential rainstorm.

Within minutes, the sky was dark as midnight and the rain so heavy that Giles and Buffy had difficulty seeing the far end of the car’s hood. The radio, playing softly in the background, seemed to try to bring the damp and miserably oppressive weather inside the car, as the haunting sounds of Jim Morrison’s voice whispered the strains of ‘Riders on the Storm’ through that one dry space in the ocean of wetness.

Giles crept carefully down the dark, flooded streets, desperately attempting to reach the Summer’s house before the deluge became even worse than it was currently. They were within a half block of the old mansion, when an ear-shattering clap of thunder split the air and the lightening struck only moments afterwards. The tang of ozone filled the air as a huge tree toppled in front of the car to completely block the roadway.

Feeling fortunate he had been driving so slowly and carefully in the pelting torrent, Giles pulled the car to one edge of the road, hoping to find enough room to creep around the downed tree, even as he glared at it blocking their path.

“Oh, bloody hell! There’s no way around that tree. If I try to drive onto the shoulder of the road, we’re likely to get stuck in the mud up to the hubs of the wheels. We’re going to have to make a run for it to the mansion. Just lock the doors and leave everything here until the rain stops, but from the looks of those clouds, it may be several hours before that happens. ”

“Giles, we’ll be soaked as soon as we open the doors!”

“I’m quite aware of that Buffy and can assure you I am not looking forward to a shower outside of one in my own bathroom. However, at this point I see no alternative. I seriously doubt that any of us wish to be cramped in the car in this mess for hours.” The Watcher grimaced at the thought of getting soaked to the skin in the chill rain.

“At least we’ve got dry clothes and stuff at the mansion.” Willow reminded them. “And now that Giles has mentioned a bathroom…” The redhead looked apologetic because of the call of nature.

“There’s probably plenty of firewood so we can get dried out. Not to mention food. I had a good time today, but I was really looking forward to getting out of this car and stretching my legs before they decide to stay permanently curled into knots.” Xander offered.

“Okay. You’ve all made your points. We might as well just run for it cause I have to agree with Giles... This doesn’t look like it’s gonna get better anytime soon. It’s a good thing I keep the keys for the mansion in the glove compartment in here. We can get in without having to break down the door, or a window, not to mention not having to climb over the wall…” Buffy told them while she frowned at the rain through the window. She didn’t notice the eyebrows that rose in question at her remark about climbing walls; instead she grabbed the keys from the glove compartment and opened the car door, squealing as the deluge hit her with battering force. Her clothes were completely soaked in seconds. She hit the lock, slammed the door and ran for the mansion door. She slid the key into the lock as quickly as possible, wrenching the heavy door open against the onslaught of the storm.

Giles, Xander, Willow, Tara and Anya were only seconds behind her as they spilled into the darkened front room of the Mansion on Crawford street.

Angel had signed the deed for the old place over to Buffy and Giles sometime back, so the group could have a safe haven for whatever and whenever they might need it. His only stipulation had been a request to continue to use the Mansion whenever he happened to be in town. The Scoobies had been more than agreeable for Angel to use the old place whenever he wished, as it was an incredibly generous offer for him to simply give them the house. It was large, a bit worn and ramshackle, but had found use as a second training and planning center on occasion.

During a particularly bad, demon-infested holiday… It had been some once-in-a-millennium holiday for the demons, it seemed… the group had spent a few days using the house as headquarters. The demons had no idea of their association with the out of the way location, and the mansion still had a reputation in the demon community after Angelus’ previous occupation of the place, that made them carefully avoid it. It was a very safe haven indeed from which to fight.

Now, in case of just such an emergency, they kept a few clothes there for all of them, as well as general supplies such as towels, non-perishable foods, drinks, linens and blankets, in addition to a huge stockpile of firewood Xander knew he’d be coerced into adding the downed tree to at a later date.

~*~

Most of them dripped, shook, and wiped water off in a futile gesture, while Buffy lit lanterns and candles and Giles started the fire in the fireplace.

Having lit the final candle in the living room, Buffy had begun to turn back toward the fireplace when the front door burst open again, a familiar blonde vampire tumbling in, looking much like a large blonde, drowned rat at the moment.

“Spike, what are you doing here?” Buffy asked him rather sharply.

“Lookin’ for a bloody place to stay dry, that’s what!” He removed his treasured duster, now a mass of water soaked leather, and hung it over a corner of the large mantle.

“What’s wrong with your place?” Buffy felt the beginnings of frustration, knowing she simply couldn’t insist that anyone go back out in the raging storm.

“Not a bloody thing if you’re a bleedin’ duck! You’ve been gone all day, Slayer, or you’d know that it’s been raining like this for hours.”

“Oh. We did leave about 8 this morning. Sorry. My bad. Just don’t aggravate us anymore than you have to, Spike. I can’t expect anybody to brave that storm, not even you.”

“What? I get to be stuck here with you lot and can’t even have a bit o’fun playin' any games while we’re so chummy? Trapped here lookin’ like drowned rats, we are…” Spike had no idea he’d said the same thing Buffy had thought barely a minute earlier.

“Uhhh, Buffy… As much as I hate to agree, that’s not a bad idea… Playing some games, I mean.” Willow saw the sudden raise of eyebrows, the surprised look on Buffy’s face, “Oh! Not the kind of games Spike means, but normal kinda stuff. We, ah, might be stuck here all night, so playing some games would be fun… and would help pass the time.” The redheaded witch actually thought it was a great idea. And it would allow she and Tara to check out an idea they had discussed quite a bit. A casual observation Anya had tossed out one day recently, had caught the witches’ attention as the ex-demon had continued on with her conversation, simply bulldozing her way to another subject.

Willow and Tara had discussed the idea at great lengths once they’d arrived home that evening.

“Okay, fine. But let’s get dry and warm, then something to eat first, Wil. I’m starved.” Buffy remarked ruefully, all the while absently plucking at the wet clothes clinging to her like a second skin.

Of the three men in the room, Xander was surreptitiously enjoying the sight of Buffy’s wet clothes as they clung, leaving very little to the imagination. He might be in love with Anya, but his earlier crush on Buffy wasn’t forgotten. ‘Besides’, he thought to himself, ‘I am a guy and I’m not going ignore a beautiful girl in wet clothes, especially when it’s Buffy.’

Spike, as usual, was much more direct, boldly and very admiringly, watching the blonde slayer. Her pale tee shirt and short skirt were plastered to her body by the rain, and revealed every curve with each move she made.

“I think I might still ‘ave some clothes left ‘ere from… A while back…” Spike didn’t really want to bring up too many past memories about the mansion, especially the parts he’d played. That would certainly shatter the somewhat fragile rapport he shared with them now. He wandered toward another room to look for the aforementioned dry clothes, stripping off the soaked tee shirt to drop it in the corner of the room.

Buffy heard the splat of the wet shirt as it fell to the stone floor, turning to look. She had a perfect view of the vampire’s naked, muscled back. He paused in the doorway, stretching his arms over his head, turning slightly and she saw the profile of his equally sculpted chest before he slipped through the blackened rectangle of the doorway. Inexplicably, the blonde slayer struggled to breathe, her chest tight, mouth suddenly dry as it hung open. Her skin felt tight, hot, entirely too small for some reason as she felt things pull low in her body…

“Ah, Buffy… flies?” Willow’s words were softly spoken, for Buffy’s ears only, and pulled her attention away from the door that had swallowed the half-naked retreating figure of the vampire. However, Buffy’s reaction to Spike’s body had not gone unobserved by either Anya or Tara, as both had also watched Spike. Tara might prefer women, and Willow specifically, but she could certainly appreciate an exceptionally attractive male body. Spike had more than fit that definition.

“Umm, right, Wil. Ah, let’s go scrounge up some food and something to drink while the guys get dry and change clothes. Then we’ll do the same.” Even as she spoke to Willow, Buffy’s couldn’t seem to tear her eyes completely away from where she’d last seen Spike before he disappeared through the door. Finally, she shook her head slightly, completely turning her back toward the door, wrapping her arms around herself as if to hold her there, preventing her from gazing behind her once more. ‘God, what is wrong with me?! Bad Slayer! Do not drool over the vampire, no matter how good that chest and back looked! NO! Don’t think about good… Bad! Bad vampire!’

In the back of her mind a little voice echoed ‘No biscuit!’

Moments later, Spike re-emerged, now clad in dry tee shirt, long sleeved dark blue shirt unbuttoned over it, and a pair of black jeans so snug that there couldn’t possibly be anything except vampire beneath them. He carried his soaked boots in one hand, as he padded over to the fire, setting the boots close to the heat so they would dry. Buffy noticed his feet were nicely shaped, for feet, and very pale against the dark rug thrown over the stone flooring.

Willow watched Buffy once more watch Spike, before grasping her friend’s arm to pull the blonde with her to the kitchen. Tara and Anya had followed, pulling towels out of the large pantry they used for its original purpose on one side and as linen and towel storage on the other side. They headed for one of the many bathrooms in the house, to dry off and slip into equally dry clothing. That finally done, Tara and Willow took over the remainder of preparing the food, while Anya and Buffy went to change, one at a time.

Giles and Xander had disappeared, also seeking dry clothing as Spike lowered himself into a chair in front of the fire, his bare feet propped carefully on the edge of the hearth as he soaked up the warmth wafting out from the burning logs like a satisfied cat, complete with a slight smirk on his face.

~*~

Finally they were all warm, dry and fed. The girls’ hair was slightly damp, but they knew it would soon dry in the warmth that now filled the room. Everyone was in a much better mood as they pulled the over-stuffed sofas and chairs into a rough half circle, facing the blazing fireplace.

Tara took that opportunity to try and implement the idea she and Willow had hastily discussed, “S-so, why don’t we play some kind of game? We’re all f-feeling much better now.”

“Alright. What exactly did you have in mind?” Anya asked the usually shy witch. Anya glanced quickly at Buffy, then at Spike, having her own ideas as to games she thought might be quite entertaining…

“Well, Willow and I had been talking recently a-about how it might be fun to play ‘Truth or Consequences’ one night. W-we could do that now.” Tara waited, not using magick, but simply willing everyone to agree.

Giles looked over the top of the book he was attempting to read. He could immediately see possible unwelcome repercussions to such a game. “Do we really want to do something like that? Those types of things can easily get out of hand.”

“C’mon G-Man, aren’t we all just dying to know each other’s deep dark secrets?” Xander commented. It might be a perfect time to find out a few things he’d wondered about himself… He caught the almost glare from Giles. “Okay, not all of us have dark secrets, so we can just tell light, happy secrets. C’mon, Giles, it’ll be fun.”

A chorus echoed through the room, “Xander, shut up!”

“Fine, I’ll just go sit in the corner by myself and be quiet.” He rose from his chair and suited word to deed.

Anya turned to Spike, occupying the chair next to her, “You’ll play with us, won’t you, Spike?”

“What? Some silly game? Why would I wanna do that?” Secretly he hoped they’d decide to go ahead. He knew this particular one could be quite interesting.

“It’s not silly, Spike. Although sometimes the answers can be silly… and people can get into embarrassing situations.” Anya told Spike quite proudly. She and Xander had played this game one evening at a party and had wound up in a closet where Anya had promptly attacked Xander. It was the first time she’d had sex in a closet and had thought it was quite fun. The people out in the room being able to possibly hear them had added a certain excitement to it for her.

“Yeah, Spike… C’mon and play with us, please!” Willow urged him. In truth, she had alternative motives.

“P-please join us, Spike. Some of us don’t really know you all that well, a-and maybe we c-could this way.” Tara shyly asked him.

“Spike, it’s quite obvious that at least most of the females in this room are going to insist on this. That being the case, they are certain to spare me no mercy and force me to participate. So if I have to play this bloody game with them, then you’re certainly going to as well.” Giles told the vampire. He was not planning to be embarrassed by himself and he knew his young friends and charges all too well to think that they wouldn’t take any opportunity to do just that to each other, including him, all in fun of course!

“Oh, bloody hell! Alright! But if I’m going to ‘umiliate myself for the lot’o ya, I’ve got to ‘ave something to drink.” Spike sprang from his chair, heading toward the kitchen. He knew where there was some alcohol stashed and he wasn’t going to do this without it.

“You mean there’s some here? Well, get it. man! What on earth are you waiting for?” Giles almost demanded of the vampire. ‘Thank heavens! At least if I have to be embarrassed, I can do it rather a bit numb!’ Giles thought, watching Spike leave the room.

Xander took Anya’s hand, pulling her with him toward the kitchen. They didn’t see Spike, but busied themselves with a container of ice, glasses and a large bottle of cola. Spike and Giles might be used to drinking, but they weren’t and would need to mix whatever the vampire found, with something. This way they could have refills without having to make repeated trips back and forth. He had a feeling that several of them were gonna need’em before this was over.

~*~

Everyone finally had a drink in front of them, most, liberally laced with the bourbon that Spike had found. Giles had foregone the cola and had added only a bit of water and ice to his drink. Spike even grabbed a glass, adding a bit of ice, instead of drinking from the bottle as he usually did.

They were comfortably situated in the chairs and sofas gathered before the fireplace. Oil lamps and softly glowing candles lent an otherworldly air to the room, with the addition of the rain, thunder and lightening as it continued to pound and shriek outside of the building.

“Tara, since this was your idea, you get to ask the first question.” Willow told her partner, a smile etching her face.

Tara squeezed Willow’s hand and looked to her left at Anya. “Anya, truth or consequences… When you were a demon, did you have sex with men?”

The ex-demon had no hesitation at all with her answer. “Yes, I did occasionally. But being a vengeance demon, it’s really kinda frowned on.”

Xander stared at her in amazement. Her answer had startled him and he desperately wanted to ask her more, jealousy nibbling at his ever-present feelings of insecurity. However, he knew any questions on that subject would have to wait until the game, just barely started, was over. ‘Besides, that was long before she ever met me. I can be cool with that.’

“Alright, Anya… Your turn to ask a question, but not your partner.” Tara told the ex-demon, making sure she knew the rules. They were never sure with Anya what she did or didn’t understand about being human, and then she’d surprise them all with a startling insight.

“Spike, what do you really think of Willow?” Anya asked the vampire, without hesitation. Anya suspected that Willow and Tara were up to something. She had her suspicious, but would simply play along, and once she determined what she thought was their goal, she might lend them a hand.

“I think Red’s a bit of alright. She stood up to me when I thought I could’a ‘ad her for a snack. I respect that.”

Willow turned pink with embarrassment even though she was pleased by Spike’s comment. “Xander, you’re next.” Willow told her friend.

“Okay… let’s see… So Giles, when we had all that fun with the band candy, did you and Buffy’s mom actually... Ah, well, you know.” Xander had overheard a tiny portion of conversation once that made him wonder what had really happened between Mrs. Summers and Giles. Not that he expected the Watcher to confess, but the brunette thought it was a great question.

Giles almost stared at Xander before he managed to get himself under control. He knew he probably still looked a bit shocked and he felt the flush of embarrassment on his face. “I believe I’ll take the consequences.”

“Okay then. You have to shake hands with Spike.” Xander snickered slightly. He knew Giles didn’t really care for Spike any more than he did himself.

Giving the younger man a hard look, Giles reached over and quickly shook hands with Spike. Both Watcher and vampire then tried very surreptitiously to wipe their hand on their pants as if to remove the sensation of contact, while they took another deep swallow of their drink.

“Giles, for this game, since Buffy is your Slayer and all, she’s kinda like your partner so you can’t ask her questions, so that means you’re next, Spike.” Willow explained. The redhead hacker knew just where she and Tara were going eventually with their questions.

“Alright, Red, you’re makin’ the rules, so you get the question. Were you scared?” The blonde vampire settled back into his chair feeling a note of satisfaction with his inquiry. He’d always wondered afterwards…

Willow understood exactly what Spike was asking her, since they had previously mentioned the incident. “I was at first, but then I just got mad and that’s when I told you off.”

Spike chuckled at her answer, feeling strangely proud of the girl from some reason. “Good show, pet.”

Willow smiled back at him. Since he’d been chipped and helping them, she’d learned more about the vampire than any of them suspected. In fact, she’d found that she actually had begun to like and respect him in an odd kinda way. He had a strong moral code, especially for a vampire. Oh, it was nothing like a normal human’s, and seemed decidedly weird, but it was Spike’s and he stuck to it.

Giles knew it was his turn next. He had every intention of getting Xander back for his question, childish as was on his part… “Xander, did you enjoy kissing Willow back when all of that took place?” The older man refilled his glass, a sly smile on his face. He caught the not quite suppressed snort from Spike.

Anya turned to glare at Xander, who was having quite a problem trying to re-discover language and how to use it. He turned several shades closer to the color of a cooked lobster. “I’ll think I’d better just go with the consequences here. There’s no answer that won’t get me killed by someone in this room.”

“Smart man.” Giles muttered under his breath. “Alright, then. Go hug the person you know the least about in this room.”

Xander’s thoughts rushed as he stood up from his chair. There were two people that could fit that category, but he refused to hug Spike, and instead, took a few steps and gave Tara a very brotherly hug, before moving back to his chair, sitting back down gratefully.

It was at this point, everyone realized this game was going to be ‘no-holds-barred’, and Xander, Buffy, Willow and Tara were ready for their next refill of their drinks. There wasn’t nearly as much cola in Xander’s glass on this round and he noticed Buffy also cut back on the mixer. She knew it wouldn’t be long before she was the center of attention for someone. Giles had previously reduced the amount of water in his refill and Spike was already drinking his straight, forgetting anything about ice cubes.

It was her turn now and Buffy looked around the room for a moment. She hoped that if she kept her questions mild, maybe they’d do the same with her. She didn’t hold much hope of that being the case, but she gave it a try. “Tara, have you always been this shy?”

“W-well, yes. B-but it’s not as bad as it u-used to be.” Tara breathed a quick sigh of relief as Buffy nodded at Willow, indicating the ‘buck’ had now passed to the redhead.

Each round found the questions getting rougher as they went around. There were also more and more consequences, as they continued, no one wanting to be the one to call a halt and be the one on the receiving end of the derision they all knew would occur. As the questions and consequences increased in severity, so did the frequency of the refills and the strength of the drinks. It seemed though that Giles, Xander, Buffy and Spike stayed ahead of the remainder of them on that particular score. Eventually, as it was Willow’s turn again, she looked at Buffy, “So, the one time, you, ah, you know… with Angel. What was it like with a vampire compared to a human male?”

Spike leaned unconsciously forward as he waited for that specific answer with more than casual anticipation. He was disappointed, but not really surprised at Buffy’s reply. The blonde slayer blushed to the roots of her hair. “I’ll take consequences, Wil.”

The urge to chortle nearly choked Willow as she suppressed it, looking at her best friend.

“Okay. Go sit in Spike’s lap for five minutes.”

Buffy just stared at her friend. Everyone looked expectantly at Buffy, except Spike. He’d suddenly developed an intense interest in examining the texture of the chair-arm in minute detail. Buffy slowly got up and walked over to Spike, standing in front of the vampire as she swayed slightly. Seconds felt like hours as he dragged his gaze away from the chair, looking up into Buffy’s face, careful to keep it as blank as possible. He leaned back slightly in the chair, giving her a bit more room as she gingerly sat in his lap. Being a bit tipsy from her drinks, she almost fell out of his lap before she quickly grabbed him around the neck with one arm to prevent her fall. Spike settled back even further in the chair, grasping her hand with his to keep her arm around him and slid his other arm around her waist. She turned her head to glare at him from inches away. “What? I didn’t want you to fall and get ‘urt, luv.”

Without a word to Spike, Buffy turned back to glare daggers at Willow. It was the classic ‘if looks could kill’ stare. Willow just smiled at her friend.

It was Xander’s turn again. He looked at Willow, asking something he’d wondered about for a while… “So, Wil, without details, how is a female partner different than a male partner?”

Willow grabbed her drink and gulped most of it down in one swallow. “Consequences.” was all she managed to say.

“Alright, go do something that will embarrass Giles.” Xander settled back, waiting. He remembered her confession that she’d had a crush on the older man at one time and hoped for something a bit ‘spicy’.

It was Willow’s turn to glare at Xander. But to herself, she had much different thoughts. ‘I always wondered about this. Now is my chance to find out.’ Willow walked carefully over to Giles, leaned over and kissed him quite thoroughly, to his absolute shock. Even more shocking to him, was the fact that he kissed her back with enthusiasm.

A small smile on her face, she walked back to her seat, leaving Xander as speechless as Giles. But where Xander wore a shocked expression, Giles’ was almost smug. Tara, being quite secure in their relationship, simply giggled at Willow.

Sitting in Spike’s lap, Buffy watched and listened. She wasn’t aware that she had unconsciously relaxed and was now snuggled against Spike’s chest, her arm around his shoulders. She was quite comfortable right where she was sitting. It was Xander who finally remarked, “Ah, Buffy. Your five minutes are up.” The comment earned him a glare from both Spike and Buffy before she pulled herself out of the vampire’s lap, somewhat reluctantly, and returned to her previous seat. Then the questions continued, as did another round of drinks, emptying that bottle.

Deciding on a bathroom break, Spike and Giles took advantage of the time to rout another bottle of bourbon from the kitchen. “They’re bloody well trying to embarrass tha’ hell out of us in there.” Giles muttered to Spike.

“Tha’ bleedin’ women are worse than we men are! What’s with that, Watcher?” Spike grumbled back at Giles.

“Who ever said women were the weaker sex, never had to put up with this lot, I can tell you that. There should be a handbook somewhere on how to understand’em.” Giles grumbled with a bit of frustration.

“Well, if you ever find it, I bloody well want a copy of it, Watcher.” Spike muttered again.

“You’ve got a deal, Spike.” Giles suddenly caught himself up short, ‘What am I doing, making deals with Spike of all, ah, people, even for a book?’ As Giles suddenly swayed more than just a bit, Spike caught him. The two men walked back into the room, arm in arm, each one holding the other one upright, but it seemed Giles was much more intoxicated than Spike.

More questions continued and finally on one of them, Giles chose consequences again. “Do something to embarrass Xander.” Tara told him.

With a gleam in his eye Giles got up unsteadily, managing to walk across to Anya, before pulling her up with one hand and into his arms. He then proceeded to kiss her. Anya very enthuastically kissed him back, much to Xander’s dismay. Finally Giles broke the kiss, settled Anya back into her chair and once more crossed the circle of chairs to his own.

“That was quite nice. Thank you Giles.” Anya told him across the circle of chairs.

“You’re certainly welcome, Anya. My pleasure.” Giles remarked back, then turned a slight Ripper-esque smile at Xander. At this point, the consequences all seemed to evolve into some kind of kissing or touching.

During one of Anya’s next turns she asked Buffy, “Who have you had the sexiest dream about ever?”

Buffy muttered ‘consequences’ again as she slunk down into her chair.

Anya had figured out the trend of Tara and Willow’s consequences for Buffy and as it matched her own suspicions, she followed right along with the unspoken plan. “Sit in Spike’s lap and kiss him for one minute, we’ll time you.”

Buffy tossed back the remainder of her drink as if she’d always known how. Those drinks had gradually devolved until her glass was just bourbon with a little water and ice. Giles and Spike had both been drinking straight bourbon for some time now. Xander’s drink was only slightly more diluted than Buffy’s and even Tara, Willow and Anya’s drinks had become increasingly stronger as the evening had progressed.

This time, Buffy went to Spike without any comment or glares, sitting in the vampire’s lap. She dipped her head slightly capturing his lips with hers. She felt his tongue dart across her lips asking for entrance and willingly parted them, giving him complete access to her mouth. He deepened the kiss, their tongues battling with each other. As they kissed, they’d pulled each other closer.

Spike had an arm around Buffy’s waist holding her, while the other hand pressed against the back of her neck. She, in turn, had wrapped an arm around his back while the other hand tangled in his hair at the nape of his neck. Spike gently sucked Buffy’s lower lip into his mouth and she moaned softly, the sound falling into his open mouth.

When they finally had to break the kiss, allowing Buffy to catch her breath, Xander’s voice caught their attention. “Buffy, Buff… Wanna come up for air now, Buff… He goes grr, remember?”

Buffy looked at Xander and he felt tiny fingers of panic crawl up his spine. He recognized that expression deep in her eyes… He’d seen it often enough with Anya, and knew it was one of passion. Except it was followed closely by irritation as Buffy almost growled at the brunette. “Xander, shut up.” This time, Buffy stayed in Spike’s lap where he had his arms relaxed but rather possessively around her.

It was Spike’s turn for a question and Buffy whispered into his ear, earning a smile from the blonde vampire.

Spike focused on Giles again, “So Watcher, what did you think of Red’s kiss earlier?”

“I’ll take consequences for 100, Alex.” Giles told the vampire. The older man was having difficulty as he tried not to laugh and realized he was thoroughly intoxicated.

Spike snickered. “Okay, mate. You kissed one of the witches, go kiss the other one.”

Giles got unsteadily to his feet, making his way over to Tara. He knew better than to attempt to lean over in his current state of inebriation, so instead kneeled down, pulling her face to him and kissing her soundly. He knew the relationship she had with Willow, thus was quite surprised to find her returning his kiss just as ardently.

Unexpectedly, he felt Willow’s hand on his shoulder as she leaned over to whisper almost between their joined faces. “Let’s go in the other room and leave the rest of them alone. They all seem to be kinda busy.”

Giles broke the kiss with Tara, looking around to discover Anya in Xander’s lap, totally involved in kissing her boyfriend, while Buffy and Spike were equally as occupied.

Giles managed to stand carefully, Tara and Willow each pulling one of his arms around their shoulders before guiding him out of the living room and down the short hallway into the room the two women normally shared when they were at the mansion. Giles knew that room boasted a king-sized bed and their intention was suddenly crystal clear. ‘Oh, my! They just might be the death of me tonight.’ But he went willingly with them.

~*~

‘Listen! Can you not hear our young hearts beating?

I kiss the sleep from your eyes

Your smile is sweeter than the morning, and here it comes,

Can’t you feel it, Baby? Can’t you feel it, here it comes,

Feel it, feel it, fire!

Somethin’s burning!’

This time, Spike broke the kiss. “Luv, what room do you usually sleep in when you’re here?”

She told him. He couldn’t restrain a grin, “That’s the one that was my room, luv… before...”

He scooped her into his arms, standing. Until that moment, they’d not noticed they were the only ones still there in front of the fireplace. It seemed everyone else had retired, leaving Buffy and Spike where and as, they were, without them ever noticing. The candles had been extinguished, leaving only the soft, dusky golden glow of the dying fire to illumine the room.

Spike carried Buffy into the bedroom, trying to lay her on the bed, but she refused to unwrap her arms from around his neck and pulled him down to the bed with her. He was drunk enough for her to easily pull him off balance.

Buffy giggled as Spike fell half on top of her. “Are you trying to break my neck, Slayer?” He asked her in a mock growl.

“Nope, just didn’t want you to go away.” She whispered as she nuzzled his neck.

“I wasn’t going anywhere unless you were there, luv.” Spike murmured against her lips as he kissed her again.

She sighed, pulling him closer, then wrapped a leg around his leg, trying to wiggle even closer. Spike pulled back slightly so Buffy could take a breath and ran his lips down the side of her neck, gently nipping with blunt teeth. She arched her back against him, exposing more of her throat to him.

Buffy slipped her hands under his shirt, tugging at it, wanting to removed the barrier that kept hindering her attempts to caress his skin. The earlier memory of his naked back was vividly branded in her mind. She wanted to see that sculpted body again, run her hands over every inch of his flesh, explore him with lips, teeth and tongue… Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this was Spike, knew she shouldn’t be doing exactly what she was doing. But she’d had enough to drink that she didn’t care what she should nor shouldn’t be doing. She knew that she wanted him so badly that her skin was tight, feeling too small for her body. She knew that only the touch of his skin on her’s could ease the fever running through her like wildfire.

Spike wasn’t nearly as intoxicated as he seemed to be, but he wasn’t going to let Buffy know that. She was willingly here in his arms and his vampire senses could smell her arousal in the air around her like an elusive perfume.

He slipped his hands under her shirt, running his fingers up her side, gently brushing them across the beginning swell of her breasts. There was no bra in his way, since her’s had been soaked earlier from the rain. She’d obviously not had another here. It was not something he was complaining about…

Buffy felt his fingers gently graze her breasts and gasped as her skin tightened even more and a throbbing pulse echoed through her. Buffy could feel his hardness pressing through his jeans against her thigh, as he lay beside her. She ran the tip of her tongue, pointed and damp, down the side of his neck, reaching down, her hand grazing the hard bulge of him as she bit the sensitive juncture just where his neck joined his shoulder.

It was Spike’s turn to gasp and moan.

He finally managed to raised himself enough to pull her shirt over her head, tossing it onto the floor beside the bed before he quickly rolled slightly, one side to the other, removing the long sleeved shirt Buffy had tried to tug off. His tee shirt followed in a matter of seconds, leaving his upper body bare.

When he lowered himself to rub his naked chest across her, gasping at the feel of her hardened nipples as they grazed his skin, Buffy whimpered, reaching to grasp his jean covered buttocks, pulling him over her.

“Buffy, luv… are you sure?”

“Spike. Shut. Up.” She punctuated each word with another kiss on his cool skin. “Yes, I’m sure.” She knew part of her eagerness was the alcohol talking, and she let it. She needed him. She’d not been touched in so long. He’d invaded her dreams almost every night since he’d told her he loved her months ago and right now, she could admit that it was more than simple need. She wanted him. Wanted him so badly, that need was overwhelming, threatening to consume her.

Spike slid his body over hers as they continued to explore each other with hands, lips, tongues and teeth. Both of them were panting, gasping for breath when Spike finally rolled over, bringing Buffy with him until she was resting on his body.

She bent her knees, bringing her legs up around his hips to grasp them as she sat up on his body. She licked her lips slowly as he watched her tongue slide between her kiss-swollen lips.

Spike thought he could die right then and be happy.

Buffy reached to unfastened his jeans, trying to pull them from his body, but her weight prevented her. Spike slid a hand under each of her thighs, lifting her off of him and shed the jeans as rapidly as possible before turning to unfasten hers. In seconds, both were nude, drinking in the sight of each other, drowning in the sight and scent of the other’s body.

Spike pulled her back down next to him, holding her against his cool flesh while the heat of her skin threatened to catch him on fire.

Buffy felt his lips and teeth at her neck again, nibbling their way across her jaw line, to suck at the corner of her jaw before sliding up to her ear. “Who do you have sexy dreams about, luv?”

He knew the answer already. He’d sat on the roof outside of her window at night, unable to go inside but he could watch and hear her even if he couldn’t touch her. He’d watched her moaning, writhing alone in her bed as she’d whispered his name in her sleep. The memory of the dreams that haunted her sleep pulled another wordless cry from deep within her throat.

Spike gently took her wrists in his hands and raised her arms above her head, giving him full access to her breasts. He dipped his head down to run his tongue across one nipple before asking her again. “Who, luv.. who’s in your dreams?”

‘God, he’d torturing me. Exquisite torture, just like my dreams. Why him? Why does he haunt me at night until…?’ “You, Spike. You fill my dreams at night. You fill my body with yours in those dreams. Why? Why do you fill my dreams all night? Your eyes, your touch…?”

“Luv, they’re your dreams. Only you have that answer.” He shifted slightly then sucked the other nipple into his mouth.

“Ahhhhhh!” Buffy gasped in a whisper with her intake of breath. “Spike… Help me find out why…” She wrapped her hand around the hardness of his body where it pressed against her hip.

Every ounce of control almost fled at the touch of her heated hand on his swollen flesh. He knew the answer to her question. He’d always known. She had to find that answer herself. She had to stop denying her reactions to him, hiding them behind anger. He reached his hand down to find her wet warmth. He was going to show her the answers she was looking for…

~*~

Somewhere in the back of Giles’ very intoxicated mind, he knew he was doing something he shouldn’t but couldn’t quite figure out what it was. He was totally distracted by the armful of soft warm female he had on either side of him. Their hands and mouths were driving him to distraction. He’d long since given himself over to them and whatever they chose to do with him. He felt firm wet flesh as it clasped him inside of it, moving slowly.

More sweet musky flesh pressed itself into his lips as he lapped at her body. One hand was holding onto the dark blonde at his face while the other grasped the redhead further down his body, urging her movements. He felt them lean across him, closer to each other as he heard them kiss above him.

Eventually the world exploded around all three of them.

They wiggled happily down into the king sized bed, a witch on each side of the Watcher as they drifted off to sleep.

~*~

Buffy’s nails pressed deep into the flesh of Spike’s buttocks, urging him further, as he pounded into her flesh. He felt her quiver around him as she clutched him, pulling him down to her, covering his lips with hers for a moment before guiding his head to her neck, pressing him closer to her and arching her neck toward his mouth.

Spike carefully sank his fangs into her shoulder just below her neck. As the sweet liquid taste of her crossed his tongue, they both fell over the edge. Buffy screamed his name in a whisper as he growled deep in his throat while they were swept away on the tide of release.

Minutes later, he was licking the almost closed twin punctures and purring against her as she held him tightly, unwilling to let him move away even an inch. As the punctures closed in her flesh, the vampire nestled his face into the side of her neck and sighed as sleep over took them.

Outside, the storm still beat against the walls.

~*~

Giles woke with a soft warm body on either side of him. He looked at Tara on one side, her arm across his chest as she held him and Willow’s arm. Willow, on the other side, had stretched out the same way.

He could tell that he was nude, and with the sheet barely sprawled across their hips, he could see the two women were also nude.

Memory assaulted his already aching head.

‘Bloody hell! How did I manage to lose control like that! I know they both were more than willing, but... but I should have stopped it before it started.’

He thought back to exactly how it had started, the rain, the game, the drinking, and the consequences. If he didn’t know better, he’d almost think the results had been planned. These two had kept throwing Buffy at Spike all night, then Xander, and finally Spike, had thrown the two women at him. ‘I feel more relaxed than I have in a long while, but how can I face any of them this morning?’ He groaned inside his head to keep from waking either of the women beside him.

As though they’d heard his silent groan, both women stirred beside him, opening their eyes.

Willow and Tara looked at each other across his chest and rose up to kiss each other across him, then turned to kiss him. Each one kissed a corner of his mouth.

“Morning, Giles.” Tara told him with a smile.

“Hi there.” Willow murmured to him, kissing his cheek this time.

“Ah, I feel that I should apologize for my behavior of last evening…”

Willow reached up to put two fingers over his lips, silencing him.

“Giles, your behavior was very nice. We both enjoyed it. I’d hate to think that you didn’t. None of us did anything that we didn’t all agree to, so there will be no guilty-feeling this morning.”

Tara rolled over on her stomach beside him, propped up on her elbows so she could look at him. “I-I certainly enjoyed what you did. Willow enjoyed it. We’re all adults. W-what we did together is n-nobody’s business except ours. O-okay?” The look in her eyes dared him to disagree with her.

“A-alright then. But this isn’t something we can let happen again.” Giles started, but was silenced as Tara laid a finger across his lips.

“Well, at least not until all three of us have the urge to again.” Willow snickered at him.

Giles felt himself blush from their quite open admiration.

“B-besides, Giles. Y-you’ve not been with anyone in a while. We all h-have needs. And occasionally, W-willow and I are willing to take care of yours. Not j-just willing, but we want to…” Tara told him bluntly.

“Giles, no feeling guilty I told you. Everything is fine. Let’s go grab showers and get some coffee and breakfast started. It may take a while for Buffy and Spike to join us this morning.” Willow smirked again.

“Willow! Did you plan all of this? Did you deliberately throw Buffy together with Spike?” Giles asked her, shocked at both women, but especially at the redheaded hacker. He was feeling definitely outnumbered. “For that matter, did you plan this?” He waved his hand slightly to indicate the three of them together in bed.

“Well, not exactly ‘planned’ it, but we did take advantage of the situation. Look, Giles, we all might not approve, but Buffy doesn’t hate Spike. I’ll bet she even more-than-likes him. That spell I did that went wrong… I didn’t make their feelings up for them, just the situation. Until Spike told her how he felt, she’d not staked him, had never uninvited him. There has to be a reason. We think she’s just afraid of being hurt.” Willow hastily explained. “But you were kinda a surprise… And an opportunity that neither Tara or I wanted to waste.”

Tara blushed slightly before continuing to keep her conversation firmly on track regarding Buffy and Spike. “We t-talked about this. W-we don’t think he’d hurt her. H-he’s always been different from everything e-everybody has ever s-said about him. Let them f-figure it out on their own. E-everybody has needs, everybody w-wants to be loved.” Tara told the watcher, then gently brushed a kiss across his lips once more.

Giles was quiet for a few minutes as he considered what each woman had said about the situation with his Slayer and the vampire.

“You may well be right. Buffy’s not really been happy since she and Angel… Well, since he lost his soul. If she can be happy, even with Spike… Well, she certainly deserves some happiness and he appears more than willing to protect her. Alright, my two beautiful ladies, let us get cleaned up before someone comes looking for us. And get some coffee made. My head will thank all of us.”

Willow and Tara giggled at Giles as they all got out of bed. By mutual consent, the two women got one shower and Giles went for the other one. Only a few minutes later they met in the kitchen, dressed and feeling very relaxed.

When Giles took the coffee pot and tray of cups into the living room and restarted the fire, Tara leaned close to Willow. “I’ve never been with a man before, but I think that if I decide to find out what it’s like, I’d like for it to be him.”

Willow smiled at her partner. “You could do a LOT worse than him. I know. Been there, done that. Well, not exactly that, cause Oz… not a bad thing… but I’ve heard!”

They both laughed and went to join Giles in the living room with plates and a platter of eggs, bacon and toast.

~*~

Giles was not the only one to wake that morning with a headache. Buffy groaned as she woke, her head about to explode. She refused to open her eyes just yet. She was sure her eyelids would break off if she did. She leaned her head against the coolness at her side. It felt so good against her head. ‘Wait… coolness… against me… Whoa! Spike! Me… we… Ohhhhhhhh!’

Buffy thought she’d simply die now and save doing it later.

The cool male at her side turned over taking her into his arms. “Mornin’ luv. Okay this mornin’ or are you about to bolt outta the bed?”

“Spike… we… what… how… Spike!?”

He gave a deep sleepy chuckle. “Yes. You know what. Several ways, all of which were bloody wonderful, luv. Rest your ‘ead a bit and remember what we talked about last night.”

Buffy let him pull her back down into the crook of his arm and shoulder. She searched through her mind trying desperately to remember the remainder of what they had done and talked about last night as Spike held her, stroking her hair, rubbing his fingers in small soothing circles on her temple. It did relax her and made her headache feel much better.

It was a few minutes later when she pulled back slightly to look up at his face. Those beautiful blue eyes were watching her. She suddenly realized he was waiting for her to reject him again and hurt him.

“Spike, I do remember it. I have a couple of questions. It’s important.”

“‘K, luv. Ask away.”

“Do you still love me?”

“Yes, Buffy, I do. I’ve loved you for a long time now. I doubt it’s going to go away just because I made love to you last night.”

“Are you planning to leave me?”

He rose up on one elbow to see her face. “Buffy, if I refused to leave you when you told me to and threatened to kill me, do you really think I’m gonna leave you now? No luv, I won’t leave you. If I had to leave you now, after last night… Well, my unlife wouldn’t have much reason to continue...”

“If you ever get the chip out of your head or if it stops working, would you go back to killing?”

“No. If I did, you’d leave me, or stake me. If you left me, you might as well bloody go ahead and stake me. Don’t you understand yet, luv? I love you. I don’t ever want to not have you in my life, or unlife or whatever it is. I’ll do anything I have to, to stay with you. Do you remember what you said last night? About your dreams and who you dream about? Asking me to help you find out why I was always in your dreams?”

“Yeah, I remember.” Buffy was quiet. She did remember and that was the problem.

“Did you get your answer, luv? I know I tried hard enough to help you find it.” Spike knew she had the answer now, but he also knew what was still holding her back

“Spike… I…” She started, hiding her face, more from herself than from Spike.

“Buffy, look at me.” He reached down and tilted her head back up toward him, a finger curled under her chin. “I know how much Angel hurt you. I think Riley leaving hurt you too, even though you didn’t love him. I understand about your Mum. I miss her too. But you’ve got all these bloody walls up around you so no one can get in. Keep’em out, people you care about can’t ‘urt you, but then they do anyway, cause they leave when you won’t let’em in, luv. Not your Mum, of course. That’s different… Part of life… But this other… you’re bein’ your own worst enemy. Not me.”

Her voice was soft and filled with tears. “I know, Spike. But I’m so afraid of being hurt again.”

“Luv, I haven’t left you yet and you ‘ave bloody well given me plenty of bleedin’ reason to leave… I won’t leave you. I promise.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.” He leaned down and kissed her, pulling her closer to him as the kiss deepened.

Buffy felt herself melting, falling, awash in the sensations his very touch created deep within her. “Spike…” Her voice was husky, passion-filled.

“Yes, luv. What say we try this with both of us sober?” Laughter sparkled through his voice.

“Ummmmmm! Sounds good. Just love me, Spike.”

“I do and I will.” Spike said against her mouth. She felt the vibration of his words run through her as he claimed her lips again.

~*~

Spike gasped as his body spasmed inside of hers, as he found his release seconds after Buffy’s. He nicked her skin again carefully, tasting her in his mouth. She whimpered into his shoulder as she bit down with blunt teeth, her body beginning to spasm around him again even before the last one had faded away.

He licked carefully at the tiny nick in her shoulder as the blood stopped quickly. Spike rolled over onto his side, pulling Buffy with him, still deep inside of her. He reached up with his hand to stroke and then cup her face. ‘Cor, she’s so beautiful. Like a goddess. My Goddess, my sun, my light.’

“Buffy, I love you.” He pulled her closer, tears pricking behind his eyes from the intensity of his emotions, “I love you.”

She reached up to stroke his cheek, tracing the line of his sculptured cheekbones with her finger, “Spike, I love you, too.” Tears spilled over from her eyes.

“Don’t say it unless you mean it. I couldn’t stand it if you did.” He searched her face, wiping a tear away with his thumb.

“I do mean it. I was too afraid before to even consider it. I’m still scared, but I can’t hide inside of myself any longer. I’ve been cruel, and wasted time when we could have been together. I love you, Spike.” Then she added in a teasing, half serious voice, “But if you hurt me or leave me, you won’t be able to run fast enough to ever hide.”

“I know, luv. But I won’t. We’d better go shower and dress. Your mates are up, ‘cause I smell coffee. We might want to tell them too.”

“Yeah.” Buffy’s voice trailed off as something jogged her memory. “Spike, while we were busy kissing last night, did you see what I thought I saw out of the corner of my eye?”

“Do’y’mean your Watcher going off with the two witches?”

“So you saw it too? We may not be the only ones with a surprise this morning.”

They both laughed as they headed for the shower.

~*~

Showered and dressed, Buffy and Spike walked into the living room, hand in hand. Giles looked up at the couple in surprise; Willow and Tara looked first at the two of them, at each other and then at Giles, with a secret smile on their faces.

“Morning sleepy heads. Oh, my bad! Those weren’t sleepy noises...” Willow teased Buffy as Spike made the slayer a cup of coffee, handing it to her before he leaned over to whisper in Willow’s ear, “Careful Red. I wasn’t as out of it as you thought last night. Remember vampires have good ‘earing. The three of you feeling better this morning, are you?” He smiled at the redheaded witch, letting her know he was teasing.

Willow slapped Spike lightly on the arm, “Oh, you… vampire you!” She laughed at him. “As a matter of fact… Yes.”

“Good for you!” He smirked back at her. Tara was close enough to catch the conversation. Giles could hear only bits and pieces of it, yet he suspected he knew exactly what Spike had figured out so quickly.

“Ah, Spike…” Giles started.

“Not to worry, mate. Not a word.”

“Well, thanks. I, ah… Thank you,” Giles wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but Spike was being awfully civil and was actually almost hovering over Buffy.

“Giles, we might want to talk about a couple of things before the other two join us.” Buffy told her mentor and friend.

“Ah, Buffy… I don’t really think that it’s something we need to talk about at all.”

“Giles! Not you three! Me and Spike…” Buffy told him, trying to be indignant as she almost choked on the laughter she was keeping inside.

“Oh… I see… And what did you wish to talk about then?”

“Well, that Spike and I worked things out… kinda last night. But definitely this morning. I got past… well, stuff! I-I was afraid… but… I do love him.” Buffy sighed before she continued. “I know that I’m a trial to you, but if you can please just try to accept us together.” She turned to Willow and Tara. “You two kept throwing us at each other last night. You knew this would happen didn’t you?”

“Well, Tara and I had talked about it. We can add, Buffy… sometimes… And we got an answer that said you did care about him regardless of what you were telling yourself and us.” Willow leaned over and hugged Buffy and then to everyone’s surprise, hugged Spike as well. “You make her happy, you big blonde softie.”

“’ey! Don’t be tellin’ that! I do ‘ave a reputation, you know!” Spike snarled at Willow right before he winked at her.

She burst into giggles.

“Somebody is feeling good this morning. So we just won’t talk about why the three of you disappeared last night and then look like the cat that ate the canary this morning, right?” Buffy asked all three of them in general.

“Ah, right. No talking about what we’re not gonna talk about.” Willow told her friend. Tara chuckled to herself quietly beside Willow, as Giles blushed across the room.

Spike suddenly held up a hand to let them know he’d heard something. Seconds later, the rest of them heard Xander and Anya down the hallway about to enter the room.

~*~

“Wow, all of you are already up. I figured we’d be the first ones up after the way you guys were inhaling the booze last night.” Xander said as he walked into the room and saw everyone else there. “Gee, you even have food and coffee ready. Great, I’m starved!”

Xander had grabbed a plate and started adding food to it when he realized that Buffy was sitting next to Spike, holding his hand. “Ah, Buff... Last night’s over now… You don’t have to do anything else with fang-boy there.”

“Xander, you better get your food and coffee and sit down.” Buffy told her friend.

“Why do I feel like I’m not gonna like this?” The brunette said to no one in specific. Xander finished gathering up his breakfast and plopped down on one of the sofas. Anya had been quietly fixing a plate for her self as Xander had complained. She smiled at Buffy and Spike sitting together, and walked over to sit next to Xander.

“Okay, Buffster, how are you going to ruin my morning for me?” Xander quipped.

Anya jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow, looking innocent.

“Xan, there is no reason for what I have to say to ‘ruin’ your morning or anything else, except maybe your opportunity to make cheap shots at Spike. We worked a few things out between us and we’re going to be together.” Buffy turned what the vampire thought of as her ‘hundred watt smile’ on him for a few seconds before turning back to Xander. “So before you can whine or complain at me or anybody else about it, just remember; you didn’t need any of us to tell you who you could or couldn’t be with. None of us need you to do that to us. If you’re our friend, Xander, you’ll let us live our lives and try to be happy for us if we manage to find some happiness.”

Xander gulped, looking a bit shame-faced at Buffy’s words. “Okay… Can I ask what happens if Spike gets that chip out of his head?”

“I’m still ‘ere, ‘arris! I’ll tell you exactly what I told Buffy. Yeah, it’s a fair question even if I don’t bloody well like it. I love ‘er. I don’t always know ‘ow to ‘andle women, but I know ‘ow I feel.” Spike turned to look into his love’s eyes as he continued. “She’d leave me if I ‘urt ‘er or anyone else. Don’t want that to ever ‘appen.”

He turned back to look at Xander. “If I lost Buffy, I’d bring you the bleedin’ stake to put me out of my bleedin’ misery.”

Xander looked hard at the vampire. “It’s a deal then. You hurt her or go back to killing, ever; I’ll personally stake you.” He gave a resigned sigh. “Until then, you better make our Slayer happy.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Anya jumped in the conversation. “So Buffy, does this mean that you’ll stop being so bitchy all the time now? I don’t mean to offend you, Xander keeps telling me I have to work on that… But you have not always been pleasant for months now.”

Xander just looked at his girlfriend in shock, expecting Buffy to snatch Anya’s head off any second now.

Buffy just laughed. “Yeah, Anya… I have been. You’re right. I apologize for making life miserable for everybody. So… you wanna go shopping with me next week? I think maybe I should get to know you better than I have so far…”

“I’d like that Buffy. Thank you. Does that mean we’ll get to be friends?”

“We can sure work on it.” Buffy smiled at the ex-demon.

~*~

Conversation settled into casual chitchat after that. They ate breakfast and cleaned up, bundling up their still damp clothes. Everyone headed out to the car now that the rain had stopped sometime early that morning. Spike had grabbed a blanket and got into the car with them.

The Public Works Department was busily cutting the huge tree up and had cleared a path through for traffic.

Giles asked them to leave a goodly portion of the tree for them to salvage as firewood, since the tree had been on their property.

Back at Buffy’s house, Giles dropped them all off, picked up his car and gave Tara and Willow a lift home. Xander and Anya left in their car as well. Dawn wouldn’t be home from the weekend spend-the-night until the next day, so Buffy asked Spike to stay over.

He agreed, but left for an hour or so after dark to run an errand and get something to eat at Willie’s.

Buffy had been curious about Spike’s errand, but he assured her she’d know later. Once he had gotten back to the Summer’s house, they’d talked and had decided to wait a bit to get their relationship on track before they considered living together, even though they planned to see each other just about every night. She did convince him to move into ‘their’ room in the mansion. He’d be dry, safer, and could keep an eye on the house when the rest of them weren’t there.

It was about three weeks later when Spike came over with a small cardboard box. “Buffy, let’s go by the Watcher’s house before we go to the movies.”

“Okay. What’s up?” Buffy was very curious about why he was being so secretive about going to Giles’ and about what was in the box, but she waited until they had reached her Watcher’s apartment.

“Hullo, Spike, Buffy... ah, is there a problem? I was about to go out for the evening.” Giles looked a bit concerned and a little nervous.

“No problem, Rupert. I went back the night the tree was cut up and grabbed a bit of it. Got a friend who owed me a bit of a favor, so I had him make a couple of things for me.” Spike opened the cardboard box and took out several small beautifully made boxes. They had been carved on a lathe, lined with velvet and polished to a high shine. Each one was from the tree that had blocked the road the night of the storm that had made such a difference for all of them.

Spike handed Giles a small box lined with deep purple velvet. That particular date had been etched into the outside bottom of the box. “Spike, this is beautiful. It’s a very nice gesture.” Giles was stunned.

“Thought it would be nice to have as a reminder. Good memories that.” Spike remarked to the watcher, then glanced quickly at Buffy.

“Quite. Very good memories.” Giles looked a bit farther away for a moment.

“While you’re going out tonight, Rupert. Would you give these two to Willow and Tara?” Spike handed him a box lined in a deep red for Willow and one lined in a teal blue for Tara.

“What… How did you know? What makes you think I’ll be seeing them tonight?” Giles blushed.

Buffy laughed at the older man. “I ran into Willow and Tara in the grocery store today Giles. They hate Earl Grey Tea, but had a box of it. It could only be for you. And they both looked pretty happy. So as Willow said… I can add sometimes. I told Spike earlier today.” Buffy smiled at her watcher and friend, happy that all three of her friends had discovered their unusual, but obviously happy, relationship.

“Oh. Well, then. I’ll be happy to convey them to the girls.”

Buffy hugged Giles quickly before she and Spike headed to the door. “Give them a hug for both of us too, Giles. Have fun.”

“Yeah, have a good evenin’, mate.” Spike wished him.

Buffy and Spike left, leaving Giles standing inside his doorway, a surprised but slightly bemused expression on his face.

As they walked along, Spike still had the cardboard box under his arm.

“So, love, you got boxes in there for both of us too?” Buffy asked him, curious still. “Or any for Xander and Anya?”

He walked her over to a bench at the bus stop and sat her down. “Buffy, I didn’t have a box made for Xander or Anya. They were already together, so that storm didn’t make a big difference in their lives. And they, well, he… is still unhappy at the choices the rest of us made that night.”

“Oh. Yeah, he has been pretty vocal when he could get away with it, so I see your point. But what else do you have in there?” Buffy leaned over, trying to see into the small box, but Spike shifted, keeping the lid covered until she finally relaxed back against the bench once more.

Spike reached into the cardboard box again, pulling out another small wooden box. It was lined in deep sea green velvet, the color of Buffy’s eyes. “This one is mine. I picked the color ‘cause of your eyes, Buffy…” He handed her the last wooden box.

“This one is for you, luv, if you want it.”

Buffy looked at him, puzzled as she opened the box, “Why wouldn’t I want it? OH! Spike!” She sat staring inside the box. It was lined with velvet the exact blue of her lover’s eyes, and sitting inside the wooden box was a small jewelers box with the lid removed. It had a small, simple, but beautiful engagement ring inside. “Yes, Spike. I want it more than I can tell you.” Tears flowed down her cheeks.

Spike took the ring out of the box and slipped it on Buffy’s finger.

He gently kissed her before they stood up from the bench, to walk home hand in hand.

Gillian Silverlight 4/6/01 (Revision 01/29/04)