“Buffy! Buffy, can you here me?” Buffy’s eyes fluttered open. She was sprawled out on her kitchen floor, her head resting on Spike’s lap. Seeing that Buffy was finally coming around, Spike sighed with relief, “You alright, luv?”

Buffy, still a bit dazed, answered, “Yeah... what happened?”

“I think you fainted,” Spike explained as he gently stroked Buffy’s hair.

“I did?” With a little help from Spike, she got back on her feet. The glow of the sun through the kitchen window warmed her face... and reminded her of why she fainted in the first place. “You’re human!”

“I did notice that, yeah,” Spike looked worried again.

“How? When?” Buffy’s heart was racing so fast that she could hear her blood pulsing in her ears. She was too stunned to realize that she had yet to tell Spike about her reality switching.

“You know this, pet,” started Spike, speaking slowly and evenly, “Try and remember.”

“What?” Then it dawned on her that he still had no idea what was going on. “Oh, right. I’m not having memory problems.”

Spike arched his eyebrow, thoroughly unconvinced.

“Really,” assured Buffy, “I’m having delusions.” She paused as if that explained everything. Seeing that Spike was not satisfied with this answer, she continued, “I keep switching back and forth between realities. Or between reality and hallucination. It’s confusing.”

Buffy could see the pain hiding in Spike’s eyes as he uttered, “Earlier, you said you didn’t belong here. You think this is the delusion, don’t you?”

“I don’t know, exactly. I mean, both seem so real...” Buffy wasn’t lying. She was having more and more trouble distinguishing which reality was, well, reality. But, she was fairly certain that she was hallucinating this entire conversation.

Spike sat on a bar stool, leaning his elbows on the kitchen island. He rubbed his hands over his face and up through his hair, then turned his attention back to Buffy. “It’s times like this that I hate you for makin’ me quit smokin’,” he joked.

Buffy smiled, “I guess they really could kill you now, huh?”

Turning serious again, Spike motioned toward the stool next to him, “Have a seat, luv. Seems I’ve got some explaining of my own to do.” Once she was settled in, Spike wetted his lips, “In the other reality, you died, yeah?”

“Which time?” joked Buffy.

Caught off guard, Spike laughed before answering, “Last year. You did a swan dive of a tower to save little sis.”

Buffy nodded, “Yeah. I had to.”

“Right then. Well, I took it kind of hard. I wanted you back,” he paused when Buffy diverted her gaze, obviously uncomfortable when hearing about his feelings for her. “So, I went to Red, thinkin’ she could work a spell. She tried her best, but, it didn’t work.”

Buffy perked up, “It didn’t?”

“No. But, we did find out where you were,” he answered.

“And you still pulled me out?” Buffy asked, angrily.

“Of course!” defended Spike, “ I couldn’t go on knowin’ you were stuck in that hell dimension!”

Buffy’s anger was replaced with awe, “Oh... um, thanks.”

“I heard about this Shaman in Uganda,” he said, “Word on the street was that this bloke could restore souls. So, I paid him a visit. I told him what I wanted, and he said he could do it, as long as I was willin’ to pay the price. He said bringin’ back the dead was tough, that an exchange would have to be made.”

“Exchange?” questioned Buffy.

Spike nodded, “He’d give your life back in exchange for my immortality.” Spike lowered his voice, trying without much luck to sound like the Shaman, “In doing so, you will surely die.” He looked over at Buffy as her eyes grew wider. “I told him to do it. Because I loved you.”

Buffy felt light-headed again. “So, you must have gone through with it, seeing as I’m here. But shouldn’t you be... uh...”

“Dust in the wind?” Spike interjected. Buffy agreed, listening as he continued. “I thought so too, but apparently ‘you will surely die’ didn’t mean right away. I’m thinkin’ it might take another fifty years or so.”

“Wow,” started Buffy. Her mind was still trying to process that Spike was human, now she had to add giving up his un-life for her. “No wonder I married you,” she joked.

Spike shrugged, joking back, “Hard to say no to a guy after all that, isn’t it?”

Staring into his eyes, Buffy had to agree. He really does love me. She reached out and placed her hand on Spike’s cheek, “I’m sorry for putting you through all this hallucination stuff. I know it’s got to be hard on you.”

Spike tucked a loose strand of hair behind Buffy’s ear, smirking as he said, “No need for apologies. You’re worth the trouble.”

Normally that smirk of his meant he was up to something, which made Buffy uncomfortable. This time, however, Buffy found it endearing. They gazed into each other’s eyes as if they were old lovers seeing each other for the first time in years. He leaned his face close to Buffy’s, so close that she could feel the heat escaping from Spike’s mouth. Buffy knew the kiss was coming, and she had plenty of time to pull away. But she didn’t. Instead, she allowed her eyes to fall shut, her lips tingling with anticipation. A moan escaped her when she felt his lips gently pressing against hers. His kiss was soft and slow, not at all like the one she had tried so hard to forget. Still, this gentle kiss had the same effect on her. Those same feelings and desires she experienced with him before traveled like shock waves through her entire body. Their kiss deepened as she allowed Spike to bring her to her feet. She felt his hands on her back and allowed him to pull her close, until their bodies were flush against one another. Buffy moaned again when she felt Spike’s tongue caress her now swollen lips. She parted her lips to permit his entry, desperate to taste him. God he tastes amazing... except for the cigarette breath.

Lips still locked, Buffy’s eyes flew open as she remembered Spike’s words only a few moments earlier, It’s times like this that I hate you for makin’ me quit smokin’.

She pulled her face away from Spike’s, their bodies still pressed together. “What the fuck are you doing?!” she exclaimed, staring into the face of a very satisfied Spike.

“Ay! You kissed me!” defended Spike.

“What?! No! Not possible! I would NEVER touch you, Spike!” she yelled back, pushing him off of her and onto the floor, “EVER!”

“He’s r-r-right you know,” said a voice coming from the entryway to the kitchen. Buffy’s face turned pale and she willed herself to face the owner of the voice.

Buffy stood there, not knowing how to explain what had happened. She decided it was best if she didn’t even try, “...Oops.”