Chapter 2

Buffy was in the kitchen making breakfast the next morning. Spike walked in and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Buffy gave him a smile.

“Morning, you sleep well?” she asked him.

He nodded and sat down at the counter. “Yeah, I still feel guilty about taking your bed.”

Buffy waved her hand in the air. “Don’t worry about it. It’s better than you sleeping on the couch,” she explained and put some eggs and bacon on a plate. She placed the plate in front of him. She figured she would have to get him some blood, but that could wait until after she explained to him about being a vampire.

He smiled at her and was about to take a bite out of the eggs, when Dawn came into the kitchen and stopped him.

“You don’t wanna eat that, trust me. Buffy isn’t the best cook in the world.”

Buffy glared at her sister. “I happen to be getting better,” she said and grabbed the fork with the little bit of egg on it. She placed it in Dawn’s mouth.

Dawn was surprised and then started to chew the egg. “Okay, this isn’t bad.”

Buffy nodded and had a pleased look on her face now.

Spike smiled at the two girls. “You can have it,” he said to Dawn. “I’m oddly not that hungry.”

Buffy and Dawn both exchanged looks and Spike wondered about that, but he didn’t say anything. They then heard a car horn coming from outside.

Buffy looked at Dawn. “Xander’s here to take you to school.”

Dawn nodded and gave her sister a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.” She then gave Spike a hug and ran out of the house.

They both just sat there in silence after she was gone, until Spike spoke up.

“So, is Xander your boyfriend?” he wondered.

Buffy laughed a little at his question. “No, he’s just a good friend.”

Spike felt relieved by that. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Buffy shook her head. “Not right now. I’ve just been focusing on other things and taking care of Dawn. I can never find time to have a boyfriend. Besides, he would probably just end up leaving town anyway.”

Spike didn’t know what she was talking about, but figured it was a sensitive subject for her.

Buffy then grew serious as she looked at him. “We need to talk. There’s a lot you need to know.”

Spike nodded and waited for what she had to say.


* * * * *


He never would have expected any of that. They were sitting in silence after Buffy’s explanation. The silence was soon becoming too much for her.

“Spike, say something.”

He looked up at her. “I’m...I’m not even human?”

Buffy could see the hurt and confusion on his face. “No, but sometimes you seem like you are. You eat normal food and everything. I’m sorry; I just thought that you should know the truth.”

He nodded and tried to understand everything that she said. “I’m glad you told me. I just don’t understand any of it. I tried to kill you. How can you even be nice to me?” Spike felt tears in his eyes and tried not to show them to her.

She moved closer to him and took his hand in hers. “That was a long time ago. We tried to kill each other, but things are different now. You’ve tried so hard to be a better person, Spike.”

He took in what she was saying and something still didn’t seem right to him. “Why?”

Buffy didn’t know what he meant and he decided to clarify for her.

“Why would I try to be a better person? I don’t know anything about vampires, but I’m pretty sure that they’re monsters. What makes me so different?”

Buffy took a deep breath before she answered him. “You changed because of me. You developed feelings for me and wanted to be a better person because of that. You’ve been helping me ever since,” she explained to him.

“So, I changed for a good reason then. I can tell you’re something special, Buffy. I know that even without all of my memories. I’m really glad we’re on the same side.”

Buffy smiled at him and gave his hand a squeeze. “Yeah, so am I. I like having you around, Spike. Even if I don’t seem like it all the time. I know I can be a total bitch sometimes, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want you here.”

Spike was shocked by what she said. “I could never picture you as a bitch.”

Buffy laughed at that and shook her head. “Oh, sweetie. You have much to learn. Come on, I think it’s about time you saw what vampires can do,” she said and pulled him up and into the basement for some sparring.

“How come you don’t go to school? Well, college anyway. I figured you would be out of high school.” Spike said suddenly when they got down there.

“I dropped out after my mom died. I had to take care of Dawn. There was also this God that was after her and I had to make that my main priority. I’m hoping to go back soon,” she told him.

“Why would a God be after Dawn?” Spike was curious to learn more and Buffy left a lot of things out.

She took a deep breath. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say that she wanted to use Dawn to open a portal that would bring hell upon earth. Not something I wanted to happen.”

Spike was surprised again. “How did you deal with that?” he wondered.

“It was one hell of a battle,” she claimed and then grew serious as she continued. “I may have stopped Glory, but I wasn’t the one that saved the world. You were,” she finished and moved closer to him. “You got to Dawn in time and you stopped that crazy, demon guy from bleeding her. You saved all of us. I just wish you could remember how grateful I was. That’s when everything changed for me. I decided to let you into my world completely. You officially became one of us,” she told him with a smile.

He smiled back at her. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

Buffy then backed away when it became too intense. “All right, enough with the mushy stuff. Let’s get down to business. Vampires are strong, almost as strong as a Slayer. I want you to show me what you’ve got. Don’t hold anything back, I can take it.”

Spike nodded and got into a fighting stance. The best he could anyway. He really hoped he knew what he was doing.