-----------------------------------------------



He felt warm. An enveloping comfort spread all over his body as his dreams faded his reality…


This was different from before. The first couple of times had been urgent and lustful – the goal to fulfill needs that were bottled up inside. This time, they kissed slowly– softly. Lips grazing over each other tenderly, the pace was agonizing.

As they moved together, he lightly pushed back her hair from her damp skin and leaned down to catch her lip with his. Their previously expressive moans were replaced with hushed cries and light pants of breath. Before, it was overwhelming want. Now, their lust mingled with something else – something they couldn’t define. Starring into each other’s eyes as they moved against one another, they knew this wasn’t just sex, but neither of them dared to think beyond it.


A warm, soft body shifted in his arms and he instinctively moved closer, nuzzling the skin of her neck. When he felt hair tickle his nose, he was jerked out of his slumber, into reality. Unfortunately, as soon as he woke, the overwhelming pain in his head took over all the good feelings he had a few moments ago. Groaning, he opened an eyelid and saw golden hair cascading in front of his face. Her smooth back faced him and his arms were wrapped around her waist, as if it were the most natural thing.


“O Bloody Hell,” Spike said out loud, retracting his arms and putting his face in his hands.


Buffy stirred at the loss of contact, whimpering slightly in her sleep as she turned toward Spike seeking comfort. Spike tensed as Buffy rolled toward him, nestling against his chest. She made a slight noise of satisfaction as he stayed frozen in place. He made no effort to move, but panic was etched all over his face.


‘What the hell have we done?? Bloody hell, I’m such a drunken wanker!’ His head was screaming at him to jump up and leave before she woke up. But with her against him, it was as if his own body refused to get up.


Suddenly, Buffy groaned in discomfort. He froze again, knowing she had just woken up.


Her head was pounding. “Ugh…,” Buffy managed to get out. She was moving to her hand to clutch her head in pain, when she felt it brushing across something smooth, like skin. Freezing her movements, her eyes shot open and met with Spike’s chest.


“Oh god,” Buffy said as she backed away on the bed. Looking at Spike’s face, she was met with his equally troubled expression. Flashes came to her at full speed. The alcohol, the kiss, and the sex. And then more sex. ‘Oh my god, the sex.’ Her look was panicked as she now remembered all the different images in her head. ‘How did I let this happen??’


“What did we do?” Buffy asked despairingly as she put her hands over her face. Her hangover was not helping whatsoever.


“Apparently, many things,” Spike replied with a guilty look. His head was still reeling with confusion, but the images of their heated night bored into his mind.


Buffy suddenly realized both their states of undress. She quickly pulled at the sheet and covered her chest defensively. This act seemed to snap Spike out of it.


“Right,” Spike said as he shot up, cursing himself for the whole thing. This was just awkward. Looking around for his pants, he cringed at the sight of her bedroom. Apparently, the ‘many things’ they did included destroying everything around them. It looked like a chaotic mess.


At the same time, Buffy, wrapped in the sheet, was muttering under her breath while she searched for clothes to wear. Both of them avoided each other as they rushed to clothe themselves.


Abruptly, Buffy stopped as a thought came to her mind. She was supposed to be the one that would run away, not him! Disbelief of what they had done was now replaced with anger. Whirling around to face him, Buffy burst out suddenly, “I KNEW all you wanted to do was get into my pants!”


Spike stopped at her words and looked back at her. Finishing zipping up his jeans, he turned around to face her fully. “What the hell are you talking about?” he said in an annoyed voice.


“You!” Buffy shook her finger at him accusingly, “This is your fault! You just get me drunk when you KNOW that me plus alcohol equals un-mixy, and then you kiss me, and then you sleep with me! Now you’re practically fleeing from the scene!”


Spike looked outraged by her accusation. “Are you daft!? You’re trying to blame this ALL on me?? You act like I shoved a bottle down your throat! I seem to remember you downing several shots all on your own, you crazy bint. As for the rest, you seemed pretty eager yourself,” Spike said with a tight but smug smile. But he knew it was no laughing matter.


“I was drunk,” Buffy said indignantly as she held her chin high. She was trying to remain angry – it was the easy way out. Underneath, she was confused. She didn’t want them to stand here yelling at each other, topping today as one of her infamous ‘worst morning-afters’ ever. Her mind was screaming at her for committing such a mistake, but her heart was tearing at the old feeling of rejection.


He looked at her raised chin and saw her mask of bitchiness. But looking closely, he could see her eyes were slightly glistening and her chin trembled. He understood now. She was insecure. His angry expression slowly melted away.


“Buffy…,” Spike let out an exasperated sigh as his hand came to smooth his tousled hair.


Buffy was looking away, waiting for him to continue, but he didn’t. He just stood there, struggling to find words.


Holding the sheet securely around her, her eyes shot up to his. She asked demandingly, “What is this?” Her tone wavered and there was a hint of desperation as she said, “Why did we let this happen?”


Letting out a frustrated sigh, Spike stepped toward her until he had closed the distance between them. Her eyes lowered and her arms wrapped around her body tighter, holding the sheet.


“I don’t know…” Spike replied honestly. ‘Leave now you git! Get away from her!’ Instead, he found himself reaching towards her face. He brushed his thumb against her cheek caressingly, causing her to look up at him. Both of them were confused at what it meant. Last night was filled with a lot of emotions, emotions that they didn’t think were possible anymore.


And at his touch, her resolve broke down. Her body relaxed as he ran his hands down both of her arms lightly. Pulling her gently against him, he wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in his embrace.


Her resistance melted, as he calmed her fears of rejection, but not completely. She sighed as she placed her forehead against his chest. He was soothingly running his hands down her back, but his face showed conflicting emotions.


“I left Dawn and mum alone and they’re probably wondering where am I…,” Spike pulled his head back to look at her. Tucking her hair behind her ear, he said, “I have to go…”


Masking her disappointment and the return of her fear, she gave him an understanding nod of the head. Spike didn’t know why the sight of her like that made his stomach tighten. He couldn’t stay to keep up this continuous battle of emotions. So, after placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, he was gone.


His touch lingered on her skin. She exhaled as she closed her eyes, trying to regain her composure. Opening her eyes, she looked around ‘her’ bedroom at the mess, and her anger and fear rose once again. She realized, how in the short time she had been here, Spike was able to break down all of her resolve and work his way into her emotions. It was something she didn’t think she could handle anymore.


-----


Walking through the cemetery, Spike’s mind raced with thoughts. His jumbled memories kept switching back to the images of him and Buffy having sex in the crypt. He searched his mind for how this all happened in the first place, and when exactly did they cross that boundary. ‘How did I get so drunk?’ Spike asked himself in frustration.


And then he stopped in his tracks. The dream. He remembered the dream from two nights ago. “Oh bleeding hell, someone kill me,” Spike said to himself pathetically.

------


“That can be arranged,” said the frustrated female, as she watched the scene in front of her. “Ahhhhh! Those twits are going to ruin everything!”


“What did you expect? You’ve seen the history between those two,” the male countered.


She glared at him momentarily. “I’ll deal with it.” She paused in thought. “Send her back in.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tara was looking for something but she didn’t even know what. She was worried about Buffy, so she told Willow she would be researching some more magic spells over at the Magic Box. But now, sitting down looking over a bunch of books, she realized it was pretty much hopeless. All the information she had gotten from Buffy and the others was that Buffy had had a dream where the world was reversed – where humans were the majority and vampires were evil. If Tara didn’t know any better, she would think it was all some sort of Buffy fantasy…but she had a weird feeling about it. Something told her that Buffy was serious and she was hiding something else important.


With Anya and Giles gone, she was left to baby sit the store for the evening. It was a slow day anyway. Seeing nothing remotely related in the book she was reading, she sighed and closed it. Perhaps she would continue this tomorrow….


Tara got up and headed over to the bookshelf to put the book back in its place. The tight row of books was unrelenting as she tried to stick it back in between the others. Giving it a final big shove, she forced the book into its place, shaking the entire bookcase. ‘Thump!’


Tara jumped slightly as a book dropped down, missing her by a few inches. With startled eyes, she peered at the large book that had fallen onto the ground. Picking it up, she examined the dusty and intricately carved wooden cover. ‘How interesting. I’ve never seen this one before…’


She peered up to see where it had fallen from, but couldn’t find a vacant spot in sight. ‘Weird…’


She brought the heavy book over to the table and set it down. She opened the cover and was about to start reading the first page, but suddenly, the pages started turning rapidly, settling on a page in the middle of the book. Alarmed, Tara moved back for a moment – she had barely touched the pages and there wasn’t a draft in the Magic Box either. A chill went through her.


Hesitantly, she came closer to the book and peered at the page it had settled on.


It took her a while to decipher it. ‘The Myth of the Rajendra Gem?? What is that?’


The description was short. It seemed vague and incomplete: …It extends back before the time of humans or demons. Cast down by the Gods, it remains an unfound myth. It is said that its powers can be extracted to blend the forces of reality, for either good or evil.


That was all it said. Tara’s puzzled expression remained on her face as she flipped through the other pages, finding nothing else. Was this what she was looking for? There had to be more…


At that moment, the bell above the door rang. Giles, Willow, Anya, and Xander came walking in.


“Hey Tara!” everyone chimed. Willow smiled lovingly as she approached her, “Did you find any interesting spells?”


“Oh….uhhh…n-no, not yet,” Tara quickly smiled to mask her stutter.


“Whatcha got there?” Willow asked as she peered at the weird looking book on the table.


“Where did you find that, Tara?” Giles asked inquisitively, as he peered at the strange carvings.


She knew she was supposed to keep researching a secret for Buffy, but they caught her with the book, so she figured there was no way around it. “Um…it fell off the bookcase…you’ve never seen this before?” Tara asked, confused.


“No, I don’t believe I have…let me see,” Giles grabbed the book to examine it, running his hands along the unique cover. “It’s quite heavy, isn’t it? Are you sure it’s from my bookcase?”


“Yea, it dropped down when I was putting a different book back,” Tara replied.


“That thing looks like a tree,” Xander commented in the background.


“It looks valuable. I hope it’s worth lots of money,” Anya added.


“Well did you find anything interesting in it?” Giles asked as he turned to Tara and set down the book.


She had to show them – it was too cryptic. “Yea, actually…the book kind of just flew open to this page,” Tara said hesitantly, as she opened it back up and searched for the page she was looking at. There were no ‘flying’ pages this time. “Look at this part here,” she pointed.


“ The myth of the Rajendra Gem…It extends back before the time of humans or demons. Cast down by the Gods, it remains an unfound myth. It is said that its powers can be extracted to blend the forces of reality, for either good or evil. ” Giles had a uncertain look on his face. “Is that it?”


“Yea…weird, huh?” Tara said, drifting off into thought.


“What are you trying to research?” Giles asked her.


“Well…I…um,” Tara sighed. “I was researching more on Buffy’s dream. You know, the one she had a couple nights ago?”


Xander rolled his eyes. “What is the big deal? She had a DREAM. We already wasted some time looking into it and there’s nothing.”


“Why did you decide to research again, Tara?” Willow had a puzzled look.


“I dunno…I guess I just felt it bothering me, and decided to take a look around the books…but now I can’t figure out this passage…what do you think it means?” Tara asked the group.


Willow read it again under her breath. It was silent as all of them had a pondering look.


Willow’s eyes widened. “Oh Oh! Blend of reality, reality blending! Do you think it has to do with Buffy’s dream?”


“I’m not quite sure…that’s sort of vague to conclude a world reversal, don’t you agree?” Giles asked with a tilt of his head. “It could mean a certain number of things. Blending of reality could mean like…insanity or an illusion.”


“Maybe it’s telling us that Buffy is insane and we shouldn’t be researching her dream,” Xander emphasized.


“Honey, be quiet now,” Anya said with a roll of her eyes.


The bell on the door rang. A blonde stepped in.


“Hey guys. Did you miss me?” Leanna said with a haughty smirk.



-----------------------------------------------


A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'll try to answer them this weekend :D