A/N: Thanks again for the lovely reviews- they make my day :D



Buffy never got to Spike’s as intended. No. Once again, there had been more distractions. Willow mysteriously becoming invisible started the Scooby investigation of the day. As it turned out, the whole thing was behind three geeks- two that she knew, Jonathan and Warren, and one that… damn, what was his name again? At any rate, the entire incident was kind of anticlimactic, ending with Jonathan and that other guy making Willow visible again, albeit against Warren’s wishes. Leaving her in that state would have eventually killed her, but Buffy wrote it off as a bunch of nerdy guys doing nerdy things. After they ran away in an artificial cloud of smoke, she didn’t give them another thought. She had way bigger issues on her brain, and that was to find a job before another visit from Doris at Social Services. Of the numerous places she applied to, the only call back she got was from Doublemeat Palace. It was nowhere near her dream job. But what choice did she have? Apparently, Spike didn’t agree.

“No, Buffy.”

“No? Since when do I need your permission, Spike? Can’t we just continue are pleasant patrol in silence?” Buffy groused as she walked ahead of him. Spike shook his head to himself before striding up in front of her.

“No we can’t. Not until we suss this all out.”

“Spike –”

“Buffy, you’re better than this. And if you expect me to just stand by and watch, then…”

“Then what? What do you expect me to do? I need the money.”

“I can get money.”

“Not legally, you can’t.” Spike gritted his teeth irritably before looking heavenward. Heaving a huge sigh, his expression softened as he leveled his gaze on her.

“You mean to tell me you have no other option than flipping burgers and whether or not ‘you want fries with that?’ I mean, there are plenty of jobs that you could perform that pay more and don’t strip you of your dignity.”

“It’s an honest job, Spike.”

“There are other honest jobs, luv—jobs that pay more and won’t have you smellin’ like burger grease at the end of the day. Besides, don’t you remember what happened when you tried the Average Joe avenues of the workplace before? It nearly drove you out of your gourd.”

“That was different. There were… not so nice forces at work against me.”

“Even so… Look, here’s in idea. There’s a club in Downtown Sunnydale- Club Wet, it’s called. Anyway, they need a bouncer and pay about fourteen an hour. I would have applied myself, but…chipped and all.” Buffy had to admit that Spike had a point. And fourteen bucks an hour! That’s more than twice as much as what Doublemeat Palace would pay. But the time… Thinking it over, she shook her head in dismay.

“It’ll never work. All of the shifts would be at night, and I wouldn’t be able to patrol, plus they’d totally be biased because I’m a girl.”

“Thought bout that already. You wouldn’t have to work every night, and besides which, I can patrol for you. I mean, the both of us really aren’t needed. Town’s been more or less quiet besides the average vamp and what not. And the manager knows what goes on in this town. Just show off your strength a bit when you apply and bam, you got the job. The man seemed reasonable.” Buffy stopped walking and looked at him with this… almost dreamy looked in her eyes. Nah, couldn’t be. She must be sleepy or something… Spike figured.

“You’re sweet, you know that?”

“Bloody hell, Summers. You’re gonna ruin my rep saying things like that,” Spike said, attempting to not look bashful. He almost pulled it off.

“I never apologized for what Willow did.” He shrugged at her.

“S’alright, luv. Red didn’t know. At least she didn’t use that magic grip or whatever on more… important bits. Though why she’d think I’d put a spell on you beats the hell out of me.”

“Well, you did kidnap her that one time so you could try and force her to put a spell on Drusilla.”

“Oh. Right. But that was ages ago,” he dismissed with a wave of his hand.

“Yea, okay.” She had a hint of laughter in her voice, nudging him with her hip.

“So… what’d you tell her?”

“The truth.”

“And what is your truth, exactly?”

“That we’re seeing each other— privately. And that no one is to know, just yet.”

“Uh huh,” he said pensively.

“Spike…”

“How long you gonna keep doing this to us, Buffy? Why won’t you let yourself be happy? Why won’t you let me make you happy?”

“What is it that you want from me, Spike?” He looked at her quietly, running his fingers through her hair, heaving a sigh.

“You mean to tell me you don’t know by now?”

“No… not exactly. Just tell me.”

“And if I do, would you oblige me?” he asked with a secretive smile. Buffy swallowed deeply, thinking as well as hoping that he was talking about sex. It had been less than twenty-four hours, but she deeply missed his hands on her. A quickie in her living room didn’t count— much.

“Yes,” she answered quietly.

“Alright. What I want… is to come to your place tomorrow evening, seven thirty sharp, pick you up, and take you out for the night.”

“Wait. Huh?”

“I want to take you out on a real date, luv. Court you properly and all that. Hell, Willow can even grill me if she fancies it. Play the role of concerned parent or what all.”

“You… you wanna date me?” Buffy asked, her brows furrowed.

“Well, yea. I want to be with you, Buffy. Not just in the shadows. I want you to be my lady.”

“You wanna be my boyfriend?”

“God, no. That sounds so… trivial. But whatever this is between us, I want it to be official. I don’t… I don’t want to share you, Buffy.” Her eyes widened in alarm as realization dawned on her.

“Spike I would never… I’m only with you.”

“Promise?” Buffy’s heart beat quickened as she looked at his face, though she wasn’t sure why. She had this sudden urge to hold him tightly, and she didn’t resist it.

“Buffy?” Spike asked, confused as to what she meant, but hugging her back all the same.

“It’s only you Spike. I would never… I’m with you…” He moved his hands slowly up her back and along her sides, up to her shoulders, neck, and ending at the sides of her face. He lifted her face up gently towards him, and stared at her with his sapphire eyes. She felt as if she were drowning in them.

“I love you Buffy. More than anything. What I’m asking of you is a chance; a fair chance at really being with you. I swear I’ll be good to you.” Buffy didn’t trust her voice just then, so she simply nodded. Spike gave her a devilish grin.

“Good— tomorrow is date night then." They finished there patrol in quiet, albeit comfortable silence. When they started to head back to the Summers’ home, Spike tentatively reached for Buffy’s hand.

In spite of the fact that he was only room temperature, Buffy felt a piercing heat all over her body at the simple contact. There was absolutely nothing sexual about it, and yet, he was fully capable of making her feel as if the Amazon was running between her thighs (gotta love that Paula Cole song). Hell, all he had to do was give her that look—that intense, lustful stare of his, that transformed his irises to a darker blue, pulling her in, and she was done for.

All of a sudden, they were standing in front of her house, and she’d been too captivated by the nearness of him to have noticed.

“At your stop, love,” he announced softly.

“Yea, yea…” she said breathlessly, leaning into him so she could…

“What? Buffy, no.” …be rejected by Spike, apparently. He quickly dropped her hand, simultaneously taking two steps away from her.

“Spike?”

“If you’re going to let me do this good and proper, then we should really slow down on the sex, luv.” Buffy swallowed deeply, trying to keep the crestfallen look from forming on her face. She wasn’t too successful.

“You don’t want me,” she stated more than asked.

“Bloody hell, woman. Of course I do. There is nothing easy about walking away from you while you’re all…” It took everything in Spike to not deeply inhale just then. “But I want you to understand that this is beyond physical for me. I want you to take this dating thing seriously.”

“But Spike, I—”

“I know love. God, do I know…” Hell, her need was so incredibly potent, it was a wonder his eyes weren’t involuntarily crossing while his jeans burst open at the seams in the crotch area.

“No worries. I’ll see you tomorrow night, yea?” He began to back away from her before he utterly lost his resolve. God, I want her…

Buffy found she could do nothing but stand there slack jawed, brows knit together in incredulity as he gave that infamous smirk of his before turning his back on her, seemingly gliding down the sidewalk with a preternatural grace, that was purely his. She had never seen man or vampire who could move like he did.

“Damn him. Damn him, damn him!” Her voice was akin to a petulant child before stomping up her porch steps.