A Little Bit Of Heaven by pfeifferpack

Chapter #1 - Chapter 1

~*~ Chapter 1 ~*~ Spike cranked up the CD player and lit another ciggy as he pulled up in front of 1630 Revello. The Desoto still purred with the power only the older behemoth American cars had truly perfected. It made him feel like an invincible force to be encased in tons of solidly built steel and leather. The wild feeling of freedom he’d been enjoying on the bike he had liberated from the big bad wanna’ be demon had a beauty of its own. He knew that Buffy would never let Dawn fly through Sunnydale on the back of the bike even if the bits arm wasn’t in a sling, so the Desoto it was, then. Dawnie had tried all week to get one of the scoobies to take her to the mall to do her Christmas shopping, but everyone was so self absorbed or strung out that they kept putting her off. Geech, she couldn’t do ALL of her shopping at the Magic Box! Finally, remembering how close she had been to Spike before Buffy came back from the dead, she had lain in wait at his crypt and wheedled him into promising her the ride to the mall. Spike hadn’t been around as much since the night he’d saved Buffy from burning up while dancing to the tune of Xander’s demon. Dawn wasn’t sure just why, but Buffy acted half mad at him all the time lately. She was really afraid that it was because Buffy had looked forward to burning up, dying again, and Spike had stopped her! Buffy had come back wrong, and angry too. Well, Dawn couldn’t fault her big sister too much for that, she HAD been in heaven and all. Still, it wasn’t like Buffy being back was HER fault, or Spike’s either. They were the only two, besides Giles, that had no idea of Willow’s plan to do that dumb spell or whatever it was. Dawn wondered which one of the witches had gone after the Gorah demon egg that the spell to return the dead had required to work right. No one talked about what or how they had done any of it. They hadn’t had Spike to fight off the three headed beastie like she had when she tried to bring her mom back. Spike had gotten a large chunk bitten into for his efforts. Dawn couldn’t imagine Xander braving such a beast and not getting seriously killed. Maybe they had used a different spell, or tried it without the egg and that was why Buffy was so … different. She missed Spike! It would be great to go shopping with him. She might even pick up a few pointers in successful shoplifting by watching him when he didn’t notice. Her Christmas presents could be a WHOLE lot better if she could get them without having to rely on the small allowance her dad sent to her when he remembered to send it. "Bit’s worse than big sis at getting’ what she wants from the big bad", he muttered to himself. Finally he smiled and shook his head, realizing just how whipped the Summer’s women had him. "From scourge of Europe to chauffeuring pouty teens with only a few words and a pair of moist, large eyes pointed my way. Bleedin’ pathetic is what I am!" He flicked the rest of his cigarette to the street and headed up the walk to the house. Didn’t want Buffy to use the dangers of second hand smoke to stop this outing. It had taken Dawn the better part of this week to convince her to let Spike take her to begin with. He hadn’t really celebrated Christmas in, well, let’s just say a long, long time. Christmas usually had meant easy pickings of lunch on the hoof because of all the distractions around the shoppers. Hunting was quite easy, and you could even hide some screams by making sure some off key carolers were nearby while you ate. The closest to celebrating it in a traditional way were the few times he had picked up a new dollie for Dru to add to her collection. Well, that and some silk fabric to make blindfolds for the dolls and use for other kinds of play. Now Spike was, well he supposed the best word was … involved, with the slayer. Actually HE had been involved heart and soul, if he’d had one, for a couple of years at least. According to Dru, it had started even longer ago, almost from the start, from seeing her dancing at the Bronze years ago. Now she had joined the dance, even if she didn’t admit it to herself or anyone else. They were lovers and love, real love, would have to follow in time. She wasn’t made to give herself like that without her heart getting in the mix too. He would only have to remain patient … not his strong suit … and all his dreams could come true. She’d been a right bitch after they had wakened after that first, well, first few, times. She had been the one to unzip him and lower herself on his too willing cock. When she had first gone for the zipper, Spike had worried that she was planning to remove his dangley bits as part of the fight they were having at the time. He was stunned to feel her close over him in the warmest and tightest embrace he had ever had. If he hadn’t already been in love with her, that would have shoved him off the edge. That night had been one of passion unlike any he had ever imagined, and he had imagined quite a lot! They had finally passed out from exhaustion in the rubble of the house that had collapsed around them. But, sunlight always brought death to a vampire, and with the sun came Buffy’s guilt and shame and inner bitch. She had verbally staked him good and proper and it hadn’t really stopped since. Well, she felt passion of many kinds for him, that was sure. She also couldn’t keep away either, having visited him for sexual release again, then coming to him to help find Dawn when the witch had gone off the deep end of the empty pool of magics. Oh yeah, Buffy wanted him, and needed him too. It was only a matter of time until she’d see it for what it was, HIM for who HE was, and all his Christmas wishes would be granted. Maybe it wasn’t that she came back wrong, just that she’d come back at all. Spike knew that he would never be in the kind of place that Buffy had described to him as having been her home that she had been pulled from by the scoobies. But, he knew that if he’d ever been in such a place, he’d be a right crank too at coming back here. She was facing so much for one so young. She was an instant mum to a teenage hormone bomb in the making, and all the responsibilities of motherhood that went with it was on her shoulders. She was having real financial problems and her friends weren’t so much as conjuring up a quick pizza, let alone putting a fix whammy on cracking copper pipes! The best they had been able to do to help had been to give her a discount on repairs and a financial assessment that had left her even more depressed than before. Her useless dad had done nothing to help his offspring except send as little as he could get away with in paying support for Dawn. Giles had simply turned tail and headed back to Merry Ole’ as quick as if one of Anya’s bunnies was after him. Buffy was saddled with all the cares of the world AND the "calling" to fight to the death to protect that world. She was being crushed under the weight of it all. He watched as she seemed to get smaller and smaller under the load of it. He would have gladly staked himself if it would bring so much as a smile to her life again. As it was, he was not able to figure out how he could possibly give her what she needed, wanted, so very badly. She wanted heaven, and rest. The only way he could give her what she wanted was one he would never do. Strange how the very thing he had threatened her with upon their first meeting was the one thing she really DID want from him now. She knew the bloody chip didn’t work on her. Yet, time and again she chose words guaranteed to inflame anger in him, to hurt him. She’d be a right bitch, use him, abuse him, then go to sleep next to him without any concern that he’d kill her in retaliation. Well, it wasn’t going to happen and he wasn’t going to let any one else take her life before her time. Not on his watch, he’d failed her for the last time at that tower. Still she needed something to ease her life if only for a bit. He was doing anything and everything she seemed to need from him, and he would do it till he was dust. She owned him heart, mind and soulless self in total and always would. Maybe he’d pick up some lovely treat for his slayer while they were out shopping. A wee bit of the kind of thing she used to enjoy before her whole life collapsed like that house had the other night. It was Christmas soon, after all, and no one could fault him giving a gift. Yeah, he’d look about while shopping with the bit. Maybe the nibblet would even have a suggestion for a favorite store or somesuch to nick something nice later. Hell, he’d even pay if he had to. He’d never cared about money before, nicking whatever he needed. Now he wished he had the acquisitive nature that Angel had so that he could shoulder some of Buffy’s money woes at least. He didn’t even know those "handyman" skills that would come be of use like that whelp Xander. HE wouldn’t charge her for repairs, even at a discount, either! He’d have to give some though for how he could help her long term later. Right now, he had a shop mad teen to see to and a Christmas present to buy. The Sunnydale mall was the same as nearly every other mall in America. The same stores sporting the same merchandise, offering the same sights and sounds as the next one. Spike would have been bored to tears if it wasn’t for the gleam of excitement in Dawn’s eyes. He was starting to see crowds as just people instead of meals he was not able to hunt or have. They all had that holiday glow about them, but none more so than Dawn. Spike felt bad that he had not insisted on visiting Dawn in spite of Buffy’s order that he, "stay the hell away from my private life and my house if you want ANY chance of sex with me again". She was so afraid that someone, one of the witches most likely, would catch on and the dirty secret would be out. Dawn needed more attention than anyone was giving her, she was hungry for it. Spike recognized the signs, he had found such neediness to make for easy prey back in the day. That was another issue he’s need to work on later. For now, he’d get some of those funny looking ice cream dots for his girl and watch her glow some more. Dawn had suggested a couple of stores that Buffy had shopped in when Joyce was still alive. Spike found himself perking up at the wares at Victoria’s Secret as soon as they entered. He knew, almost to a pair, how many whispy bits of lace and satin Buffy owned. He’d helped himself to more than one in the past year and had ripped more than a couple this year. "Yeah", he thought, "this is just the kind of store to find a little something to give my little slayer elf". Then he smiled. Spike looked at the mirrored rooms filled with pink and red patterned carpet and walls bright enough to make a bloke dizzy. His eyes went to the piles of lacy thongs and the mannequins dressed, or rather undressed, in little nothings that had to be uncomfortable to wear, he thought. There were entire sections where the back of the thongs were rhinestones or feathers. Things never intended to be worn under anything. Actually, the last time he’d seen some of these styles, the woman wearing them was lap dancing while her sisters did pole dances for cash. He wasn’t too sure where to look first and was fairly sure he should be covering Dawn’s eyes at the same time. He decided to steer Dawn to the "beauty" section with nice, safe, fragrances and slip back to the little nothings by himself. He could just picture Buffy wearing some of the things he’d seen before getting Dawn out of there. Well, he pictured her wearing them for a few moments, followed by him adding them to his collection of Buffywear trophies. All was progressing well. Dawn was lost in the different colognes and makeup and Spike was fondling silk, lace and satin without having to worry about being arrested for lewd behavior. He had finally selected a sexy little nightie that he thought might be a perfect gift for Buffy when he saw the embroidery on the bottom of the outfit and frowned. "Angel …… what the bleedin’ hell…..", he said in wonder. The sign above the area of the store was labeled "The Angel Collection" and the clothes all proudly sported the word "Angel" on them somewhere. "I’ll be double damned if any of MY women wear anything with that ponce’s name anywhere near it! And Buffy is not part of his bloody collection either", he said in a snit. No, this store did not have a thing he wanted on HIS girl. Dawn came up behind him at that point and said, "good choice, Buffy’ll love that". "Not a way in the world, Niblett. Gonna have to look for something that really belongs on her, and that’s not here", he replied. Dawn looked puzzled, but could tell something had spoiled Spike’s holiday cheer. Spike was still pouting while Dawn ate her second hot pretzel and nattered on about the things she had picked out for the scoobies. She didn’t show him the purse size sprays of "Very Sexy" that she had slipped up her sleeve to use as stocking stuffers for Willow and Buffy. She wasn’t going to actually spend her money on a gift for Willow this year after the broken collarbone, but a gift she didn’t have to pay for was something else. Spike might appreciate a ten fingered discount, but he would know that Buffy would hate it and make her take them back. She decided to try to get him back into the holiday spirit by teasing him out of the black mood that had descended upon him in the store. Maybe he was just upset because Buffy didn’t have sense enough to return his love and all those sexy things made him realize her stupid big sister didn’t want him, she thought. "You know, Buffy has really changed since Willow brought her back. She isn’t really close to anyone, not even me", she said to the glum vampire. "I don’t think you need to give up, Spike. I mean, she’s not interested in anyone, it’s not just rejecting you, you know", she continued. "She doesn’t even notice boys at all, so there’s no competition for you. She’s even been nice to you a few times since she came back", she encouraged him. "Maybe in heaven that part of her got switched off for a while or something. It’s just that now she’s having to be all ’grown up Buffy’ and she was never too happy about not getting to be ‘plain teenage Buffy’ to begin with. Half the time I’m mad at her for being such bitch and other times I feel bad that I can’t give her heaven back……except, you know, that would mean she’d be gone and I don’t want that.", she finished quietly. Spike looked at Dawn as if she had just said something brilliant, and smiled in a way she had never seen the vampire smile. He reached over, taking Dawn’s face in his hands and kissed her quickly. "Thanks, bit, you just helped me figure out the perfect gift for big sis. It’ll take a bit of doin’ and I’ll need to dig around a bit to finance it….could use a spot of help too", he spoke rapidly. Dawn was still reeling at the kiss and caught up around the ‘help too’ part of his chatter. "Um, help? What kind of help do you need and is it legal? I mean, I’ll be glad to help, you know, even if it isn’t completely legal", she promised. "Oh, it’s legal. I just don’t know what Buffy will accept from me. I think she needs to think it’s coming from someone else. I’ll have to play the grumpy vampire too to make her buy it. "Okay, what store next?, Dawn asked. "No, no store for this, platelet, got a bit of arrangin’ to do to have this all come off right", he replied. The rest of the evening was filled with Dawn shopping and Spike nearly bouncing in anticipation for whatever he was planning for Buffy. Dawn wished, not for the first time, that she was the one to have the love of a guy like Spike who was willing to put it all on the line for love. "I wouldn’t even be a bitch to him or hit him either", she thought. "Besides, Buffy was just my age when she was hanging all over Angel and he was a lot older than her, lots older than Spike is to me", she concluded. Spike went through the box of trinkets he had saved from the trove he had uncovered when he found the Gem of Amarra years before. He had been so interested in that one gem that he hadn’t taken as much as he should have. Still, there were a couple of pieces that he could pawn to get the funding he needed for his plan. He thought that he might take a couple of the larger pieces to L.A. one day and set up a small trust account for Buffy and Dawn. He’d have to make sure Buffy never found out it was from him…..maybe make it look like something Joyce had set aside. He knew she was having lots of money worries and it would help her a lot to have a little something. Perhaps he could think of another way to add to the amount too and take all that burden from her in time. Spike was smiling at the thought of being Buffy’s knight in black armor when he handed the pieces over to the pawn broker for some Christmas cash. His good mood worked in the favor of the broker since Spike didn’t anger at the haggling that was done to try to give as little money as possible for the rings.

Chapter #2 - Chapter 2

~*~ Chapter 2 ~*~ Christmas day came, at last. Buffy had visited Spike a time or two, started arguments that led to wild sex and, as always, ran out vowing to never darken his door again. Other than that, Spike had not been around the Summer’s place or the Magic Box at all. Buffy was a bit surprised, and hurt if she’d admit it, when no present from Spike found its way under her tree. True, she had not picked anything out for him either, but he was supposed to love her! She had expected the vampire to use the excuse of a holiday to try to ease his way into her heart as well as her bed. It "didn’t seem like him to let a chance for a romantic gesture pass without jumping on me…..it, jumping on IT", she thought. It wasn’t as happy a Christmas as some years past. Willow and Tara were still separated and Willow was still having withdrawl from the magics. Willow moped around the house with the shakes and Dawn avoided her sisters best friend as much as possible. Still, the scoobies all came for dinner and a gift exchange. Tara even dropped by for dessert and brought presents for everyone. Giles had called from Bath to wish them all a joyous holiday. All was calm, all was bright, but, no Spike at all. Xander was the one to voice it. "Hey, Santa got my letter and dusted dead boy, jr. I guess. Nothing less would keep the bleached stalker from using a Christian holiday to try to get to Buffy. Pass the eggnog and let’s have a toast to old saint Nick!" Dawn huffed and left the room. Buffy just looked away, not wanting to give any indication that she and Spike were anything but enemies currently fighting on the same side. Tara decided it wasn’t right to just let that lay out there and softly said, "Xander, Spike isn’t all bad. He helped a lot last summer and saved our lives lots of times. I don’t think Christmas is the best time to bring up old issues, do you?" Willow looked at her lover hopefully, maybe she would extend those feelings to her as well, she thought. At the end of the evening, Willow had to console herself that Tara had spent a few hours in her company even if all was not forgiven. Buffy had to convince herself that Spike probably had something private planned at his crypt for later. She decided to drop in just in case he had something for her. "Oh, yeah, he’ll have something for me", she thought and then told herself to shut up. Dawn and Willow headed up to bed after Buffy said she was going to do a quick sweep to protect all those going to midnight services and that they shouldn’t wait up for her. As she headed for the door, she saw an envelope on the table where they put the mail. There had been no mail delivery that day, but there was a red and green envelope addressed to her in typed letters. She put down her stake and took the envelope to the living room to open it. Inside there was a carefully typed letter that read, "This Christmas you are to be given a day of heaven on earth, or as close as possible, anyway. All of your friends feel terrible for pulling you out of heaven even if we are all glad to have you here. Maybe this day will give you a rest from the troubles you have had since you got back. Arrangements have been made for you to have the next two days off from the Doublemeat Palace and here is some cash to cover the pay you will miss. You will find gift certificates enclosed to be used the day after Christmas. Please take the whole day for this. I have arranged for Spike to take Dawn duty both days. He did okay with her last summer and she will be safe with him there. Merry Christmas, Buffy. Your Secret Santa." Enclosed were certificates for a two hour full body massage with aromatherapy. Full spa treatment at the new, highly touted local day spa. Every possible pampering from head to toe was covered and it would take a whole day to have it done. There was also a certificate for dinner at the best Italian resturant in Sunnydale and for the local movie theater to be used the day after the spa day. Two days of rest and "me time" for Buffy, Dawnsitting included. Buffy couldn’t figure out who the secret Santa could be, but figured the gifts cost too much for just one of her friends to have set this up. She decided they must have all chipped in to give this to her and wiped the tears that had escaped her eyes at the thought of how much love had gone into the gift. She figured that Tara had put the envelope on the table when she came in earlier and had likely been the one to talk Spike into watching Dawn. She headed for the crypt with a lighter step than she had in a long while. Her friends loved her and she loved them too. They had thought they were helping her by bringing her back and it was time to put aside those hard feelings at last. Spike had even been decent by agreeing to keep Dawn safe while she took a break from the drudgery that was her life. Life could be good, she thought. Spike’s crypt wasn’t precisely festive, but he was a vampire, after all. Yet, he had lovely red and green candles all aglow and a yummy Merlot open in anticipation of a visit from Buffy. He had a small gift of a lovely jeweled dagger he said he had dug up a few years before. There was a biggift downstairs in his bed, she thought with a naughty grin, that required them to both do a bit of unwrapping. Then, as usual, Buffy left before the sheets had even cooled and headed home. Maybe it was the spirit of the season, but this time she didn’t say a single bitchy thing, didn’t kick, or hit him and didn’t claim that she would never be in his bed again. Things were looking up. Spike’s smoldering blanket had become a fairly common sight in the Summers home. On the day after Christmas, he showed up soon after breakfast, grumbling about humans not having a clue about vampire’s sleep patterns. "Well, I’m here like I promised. Hope the bit cuts me a little slack ‘cause this is the middle of the bleedin’ night for me. Don’t know why she needs a keeper anyway, Glory’s gone and it’s daylight out there", he muttered as he scowled. "Maybe I’ll let you off the hook if you tell me who my secret Santa is", Buffy cajoled. "Not lookin’ to get dusted, luv. Promised to keep it to myself and don’t go back on my word", he replied. Then he leaned in and placed a quick kiss on his beloved’s lips. Buffy headed out to the spa and a day of pampering and bliss. If she had looked back she would have been treated to a look of pure pleasure on Spike’s face as he anticipated how good she was going to feel all because of him. He was pretty sure that Buffy would have turned down his gift if she had known it had come from him. This way was nearly as good. He had some time with Dawn and was happy knowing that he was responsible for Buffy being treated like the goddess she was, if only for a day or two. Dawn came into the kitchen just as her sister left. She looked at the expression on Spike’s face and shook her head at the silliness of Buffy’s holding herself back from such a great guy. "Hey, what’d you bring for us to watch while Buffy is getting all greased and fluffed?", she asked Spike. "It better be good since I’ve been such a good girl in not telling who played Santa, AND didn’t even pitch a fit at having a babysitter. So, Princess Bride?", she asked eagerly and reached for the sack in Spike’s hand. "Bloody hell, bit, we watched that nearly every night last summer. Don’t you want to expand you horizons a bit?", he teased. She had pulled the Blockbuster bag open and squealed at seeing the favored movie and a couple of other chick flicks that Spike knew she would love. He really was the best, she thought. She didn’t even mind that it looked like he also planned for them to see Dawn of The Dead at some point too. Maybe she’d be asleep by then. When Dawn finished telling Spike her plans for the next two days he began to think that the cost of this present was higher than any vampire should have to pay. Monopoly he would agree to, Twister only got her a frown and a resounding, "No!". These were going to be two very long days, he thought. Buffy returned home from the spa feeling like a happy limp noodle. The masseuse had managed to untie every knot in her muscles. She felt boneless and as content as a well fed kitten in front of a fire. She had to smile at the sight of Spike and Dawn asleep on the couch with the blue screen on the TV showing they had probably missed the last of whatever movie they had watched. She had to fight the urge to brush the soft curls from Spike’s forehead. He looked so innocent when he slept. She wondered how he would look if she just stayed and slept with him after sex. He always wanted to cuddle, maybe he would look something like this. She felt herself growing warm at the thought. Time to wake the vamp and send him home before she made a very large mistake. Dawn nearly sleepwalked to her room while Spike prepared to leave. "Thanks for watching out for Dawn, Spike. Not just tonight, but all last summer. I don’t think I said thanks for that.", she said, and laid a hand on his arm. "S’okay slayer, I said till the end of time and I meant it.", he reminded her. They smiled at each other and kissed gentlly at the door. Buffy watched as he walked towards his crypt, smiling at how normal it all felt. The next day, Buffy slept in, grateful for the days off from the Doublemeat drudgery. She hadn’t felt this rested and content since she’d been back. She could hear Willow and Dawn downstairs and decided to let them work out their issues by themselves for once. That evening, right on time, Spike arrived to keep Dawn company while Buffy went for dinner and a movie. She had convinced the scoobies to join her without letting them know that she knew the gift had come from them. Only Tara and Dawn were not going to join her. The movie was forgetable, but it made for a nice change just being out. Dinner, on the other hand, was wonderful. The resturant was excellent and everything was tempting. As Buffy ate her shrimp scampi, she felt she had to thank everyone for the lovely gift of the past two days. They were the best friends anyone had ever had and she wanted them to know she did not take them for granted. "I really thank you guys for this", she said. The three friends looked at her and each other in puzzlement. "Well, Buff, you’re welcome, but thanks for what?", Xander asked. "Come on you guys, none of you could have afforded yesterday and today by yourselves. I know you all chipped in for this. I just want you to know that I really appreciate all the love that went into this Christmas gift. I have the best friends in the world", she said, tearing up. "While I agree that we are the best friends in the world, I gotta say ‘huh’ to the thanking bit", said Xander with a confused look. "Buffy obviously thinks we spent our hard earned money to give her the day spa and days off. She must think we are dong much better than we are, sweetheart. Obviously your gift had to come from Giles because he’s the only one with money like that to throw around.", Anya added. "All our gifts came from the Magic Box, as you should remember, because you claimed to really like the Mugswold mask of visions when you opened it on Christmas. Really, Buffy, we aren’t made of money you know", Anya finished. "Yeah, it was probably Giles, Buff. You know how he worries about you all the time", agreed Willow. "Besides, who else could blackmail Spike into staying with Dawn", she concluded. "Huh, I though sure it was a group gift from all of you. I mean, some of the things that were arranged at the spa….well Giles wouldn’t have had a clue", Buffy said. "What kind of things do you mean?", asked Willow. "You know, the scent used for the bathes and aromatherapy for one, and my favorite lotions and polishes…stuff like that," she answered. "I mean, Giles,... love the guy to pieces, but I’m sure he’d pay someone NOT to know those things about me," she said. "Maybe you should beat up Spike for an answer to who the secret Santa is. That’d be a win-win. You’d get your answer and get to beat up captain peroxide. Hey, maybe I could watch!", Xander said gleefully. "Spike! No, it couldn’t be. Where would he have come up with any money for a gift like that? But, who else would know her so well. Who else knew how much it had hurt being pulled from heaven. Who else had a romantic streak a mile wide," she realized as she thought it through. "Spike," she said aloud. "Yeah, he’d know who it is cause they got him to Dawnsit," Xander agreed. He missed the look on Buffy’s face that explained that the calling out of Spike’s name was one of realization, not a plan to beat information from the vamp. When dinner ended, Willow decided to drop by her parent’s house for a short visit, probably not coming home for a few hours. Xander and Anya headed back for the many orgasms that Anya had declared Xander owed her for the holiday. Buffy prepared to go home to thank her benefactor. Once again, Spike and Dawn had fallen asleep on the couch, video still playing. It looked like they had some sort of Monty Python festival tonight. Buffy woke Dawn and sent her to bed, asking Spike to wait a moment for her to come back down. Spike ran a nervous hand in his curled hair. Buffy had an odd look on her face when she had asked him to stay a while. He wasn’t sure if he could read what was going on in her head and that scared him a bit. "Well, Spike, got any decent movies in that bag of yours, cause I’m up for a late show and a cool arm around me," she said shyly. Spike wasn’t sure what he was hearing and it showed. "Slayer….. Buffy, what’s going on here. Are you playing with the lovesick vampire, you bored, or what?" he asked. "No, I just want to spend some snuggle time with Santa, that’s all. Kinda’ a night out of time. Just like your gift to me was like a moment out of the regular world, same here. Tomorrow we’ll probably be back to the same angst and drive each other crazy. Tonight, I’d kinda like to drive each other crazy in a good way," she said. "Thank you for the beautiful gift. Funny how a vampire is the one to try to give a bit of heaven to the slayer, and not in the drain you dry and kill you way, either. You’re one of a kind, Spike. I don’t know if I’ll ever figure you out," she finished. "Not much to figure, pet, I just love you and want you happy s’all. Nothing new there. Told you once that I’m love’s bitch, and told you I’m your willing slave. Not my fault if you have to make it more complicated than it is," Spike said tenderly. He looked at her the way he had when she had first returned from the dead….that heart in his eyes look that haunted her sleep ever since that night. The look that made her question everything when she thought about it. That look that took her back to his crypt night after night trying to appease a hunger within her, a need. She sat put a tape in the machine and sat next to a very surprised Spike. Then she further shocked him by snuggling next to him with her head on his shoulder as the film began. "Pet, what if Willow comes home or Dawn comes downstairs?" he asked. "For tonight, why don’t we both agree to not care, just enjoy," she said, much to his delight. ~~~~ When Willow got home she saw them curled into each other on the couch fast asleep. "Woah, I’d better wake Buffy up before she freaks and stakes him without thinking," she said to herself. "Buffy", she whispered. "Buffy, you need to wake up. I think you fell asleep and fell on Spike and I know you don’t want to be encouraging him or anything", her well meaning friend said. "What", Buffy said groggily. "Hey, Wil, you’re home early. What did you say?", she asked sleepily. "Um, you, Spike, sleep", Willow blushed as she tried to clue in her friend. "Ooooooh", Buffy said, suddenly awake. "I guess I fell over when I dozed off. Better wake the undead." Spike jerked awake at her touch. His mind trying to catch up with his body in alertness. As he struggled to straighten himself and move away from the warm and lovely Buffy he dropped his lighter behind the couch cushion without realizing it. "Hey, Willow. Must’ve fallen asleep. All those early hours when all good vampires usually sleep catchin’ up with a fella, I guess. Woah, hey, Buffy, you got home!" he said. He then pretended to be surprised to see Buffy there, much less next to him. "Well, I’m off then. Say goodnight to the bit for me. Night Red, Buffy", he said on his way out. Willow looked at Buffy oddly as she thought she heard her friend say under her breath, "and I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight, Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight'. Goodnight Spike, and thank you." ~Fin