Jacob ssems nice, but as I've said earlier, I prefer Buffy with Spike.

I suppose this is a kinder way of 'using' Spike - at least she's not giving him false hope. I think he deserves a little kindness from someone, though, just as much as Buffy deserves some normal happiness. Thank god he's got something nasty to smack down!

happy to see spike "wallowing" cut short by something he can hit. thanks for the fine read. (somehow? left the review for 7 on six. and i cannot blame the computer or the scotch. need a scapegoat.)

Thank you for another great chapter! I'm a Spuffy lover all the way, but I do think Buffy deserves a bit of happiness, even if it comes from something as simple as a nice date with a nice guy. But I don't see why Spike continues to punish himself. Yeah Buffy's dumb, but Spike's just as bad. Clearly Buffy isn't ready to go there with Spike, at the very least he needs to give her some space. Give himself some space, so that he can remember who he is. It's like he's defined himself solely on his love for Buffy. It's not healthy to place your entire being into one person. Especially if said person doesn't even share your feelings.

Once he gets rid of the demon, he needs a change of scenery. He's not her brother, she's got the witches and Xander to watch Dawn, he needs to get out of there before it does make him crazy. I was hoping Jacob was a demon something like Cathy but I guess not. Somethings going on though since this is the second attack at her house. Hope something nasty takes a bite out of her, stupid Buffy. Well all caught up sweetie, thanks for all the updates. If Buffy doesn't change her mind soon about Spike I hope you let him move on too.

oh no!!!! hope spike can protect the two of them!!! and i gotta hand it to jacob, dinner *and* the sunset combined? *very* nice choice...love it, pet, very much looking forward to more :)

I really like the gentle pacing of this story...even though you might change the pacing later, of course. You're giving us time to really get to know your characters, to feel what they're feeling. I know that when Spuffiness finally ensues, it will be genuine and earned. Please update soon!

SO - Jacob is the decoy, sent to lure the Slayer away while demons attack Dawn? Willow just unwittingly assisted in the plot by setting them up!

Whoa! Didn't see that coming. Kinda the whole point of bursting through the door,I guess, though. :D
This is coming along nicely - so real that Buffy is enjoying a date with a nice guy, and Spike is hurt. At least she realizes that she's hurting him now. That's a step in the right direction.

I can't be mad at Buff especially considering the depression she came from in the last story. She just wants some happiness and Jacob seems like a good guy. I liked his joke. Maybe he's the calm she needs right now. The calm before the storm that is. With Spike being the storm. Not storm in the negative sense, but with their love being whirlwind...chaotic...massive...undeniable.

" She was going to have to do something about that. Make him not in love with her or something. She couldn’t have him just hanging around like a ticking time bomb, waiting for him to explode in some freak display of obsession and lust like the cattle prod and chains episode last year."


Hee! That's so Buffy-ish. I could totally have seen her saying something like that on the show. I'm very torn between liking Jacob and feeling massively bad for Spike :) Hope the demon doesn't give him too much trouble...

So the demon at the summers house again, I wonder if Jacob has something to do with it, last time she was out with him, one showed up there as well.

I love this. The characters are so well drawn, and I love that you make Jacob so decent. It's easy to write a story where Buffy dates a total loser and turns to Spike, but realizing that she love Spike despite going out with another decent guy...that's so much harder and yet so much more rewarding for your readers! I so look forward to each chapter.

Awwwww! Poor Spike! :( lol I like it that he tried to drown his sorrows with the classic girly ice cream routine :P haha I'm trying to hate Buffy's date, but he's sounding like such a sweetie pie, you're making it hard to not like him!! lol Still holding out for the fantastic Spuffy ending you promised tho!! lol :) great update!

Huge hulking demon right on cue *G*....THIS is Buffy's life.

So sad that her only real "epiphany" was to worry that Spike would go off on her again if she didn't find a way to get him to stop loving her! It would serve her sooooooo right to have Spike REALLY look like he was moving on (or moving away). God she was an idiot, wasn't she?

Another demon? Did someone hire a hit?

Dang it, why do you have to make the guy all nice and sweet? And Buffy's a total bitch in denial - "Make Spike fall out of love with her"? What a mean thought!!! What a selfish bitch, thinking only about her "convenience", while her "friend" is hurting like mad from her behavior. Poor Spike....

Love your story! Please write more soon! Thanks!

Such a good story. happy sigh. Poor cut to ribbons Spike. sad sigh. That's why I love this fic. Sends my emotions running all over the place. I don't like Jacob. Partially because he's not Spike (lol) but also a little cause I don't see any real personality, but you probably just haven't gotten there yet. Will await next update impatiently.

This fic is really well-written, but it is also so darned depressing. It's my standard reaction to fics in which I'm persuaded that Buffy really, truly does not love Spike and am invited to watch Spike suffer through it. I'll be interested to see how you bring things forward -- I'm sure you have something up your sleeve...just wish I could figure out what it might be! Good on you, BTW, for making Jacob a perfectly good guy. Makes it all the more painful, of course, but in a good kind of way.

Buffy really is dense . Spike can't just fall out of love because it messes with her worldview. And it's cruel for her to have him babysit while she's on a date.

1.) Buffy is an idiot. As nice as Jacob sounds, it feels like she's just settling for him because he's "safe."

2.) Poor Spike. :sigh: Not only is Buffy breaking his heart, but now he's got a demon in the house.

I'm also betting Buffy will try to find a way to blame him for this as well. :sigh: Prove me wrong...please.

Well, you already know I think it's great. But I thought I would tell you again. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to kill off Jacob. I know, I know. You're going to say he's a nice guy, and he is. But he's also the guy standing between Spike and happiness, therefore he must be destroyed. :evil:

It's an interesting change to see a story where the Spike rival actually seems to be a nice guy, instead of having some obvious fault that Buffy is too dumb/determined/obstinant to see.