---

When Buffy and Dawn walked back into the living room, they were immediately taken aback by the destruction that confronted them. The front window had been shattered, leaving large chunks of glass scattered across the sunlit floor. The couch was thrown haphazardly against the front wall, a large hole having been left in its wake, and the coffee table was smashed into pieces, serving as a grim reminder of how close Buffy came to death. Chunks of plaster from the surrounding walls littered the floor, mingling with the glass to create a sort of macabre mosaic. Buffy sighed heavily as she stared around her; practically no surface had been left unscathed by the furious battle, and the smell of magic and blood filled the air with such strength that it seemed to be a physical presence all its own. In short, the room was anything but salvageable—a complete write-off.

“Wow!” Dawn gasped as she absorbed the destruction.

“Yeah,” Buffy agreed with a small gulp before turning back to Spike, noticing that he had remained standing in the shadows, well back from the harsh rays that danced across the carnage of the brightly lit room. “Dawnie, can you go grab some thick blankets so we can cover this window?” Buffy asked suddenly, never taking her eyes off of Spike. Dawn gave her sister an understanding nod and quickly ran upstairs; both girls knew that Spike wasn’t in any danger of going all flamy thanks to Willow’s spell, but they had both seen the look of pain that had crossed his features when he came into direct contact with the sun.

As soon as Dawn left the room, Buffy could feel Spike shift behind her, closing the distance between them slowly, if not stealthily. A small shiver ran down her spine when she heard his husky voice whispering in her ear, “You better watch out, pet. I might begin to think you care ‘bout me.”

Buffy let a small smile spread across her lips as she turned to face him. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take… Besides, I don’t think the neighbours need to see any more of what goes on in this house. I mean, this may be Sunnydale, but I’m sure that even the old-timers couldn’t turn a blind eye to an insane hellgod rampaging down the sidewalk out front. Not to mention the crispy-fried minions currently stinking up the front lawn.”

Spike let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, nothin’ will piss off the neighbours more then a rowdy barbeque.”

Buffy simply rolled her eyes and shook her head in response.


~*~~*~~*~


By the time Giles, Anya, and Xander returned from the hospital, Buffy and Dawn had seemingly managed to remove all of Glory’s dead minions from the front lawn, leaving only the scorched earth to indicate that something serious had happened on that ground very recently. As the threesome approached the house, they couldn’t help but notice that the front window was now covered with a thick blanket, denying any view into the Summers home; the house itself was eerily quiet as they stepped over the threshold into the demolished entrance hall.

Three pairs of eyes scanned the damage before finally settling on the three individuals sleeping peacefully on the couch. Buffy and Dawn sat on either side of Spike; both girls had an arm slung over his chest, each in almost mirrored positions as they pillowed their heads on his shoulders. Spike, in turn, was holding both of them as though they were the most precious creatures in the world, his arms each gently but firmly wrapped around one slender set of soldiers. Small content smiles played across the lips of all three as they drew comfort from each others’ presence while they slept.

As Xander took in the sight of the unlikely trio, he found himself unable to tear his eyes away from Buffy and Spike. Some way, somehow, their whole relationship suddenly made sense to him. Buffy needed Spike; regardless of the reasons for her need of the vamp’s company, whether she wished for a sparring partner, a lover, or merely a confidante, she had chosen Spike, and he would be there for both Buffy and Dawn. Although Xander hated to admit it, at times he kinda admired the chipped vampire; he was fearless, determined, and an exceptional fighter, and it was clear that he would do anything to keep Buffy and Dawn—and quite possibly the rest of the Scooby gang—safe. Xander had seen the peroxide vampire’s reaction to Glory attack. He had seen the look of sheer panic that had washed over his features when Buffy was staked. A small shiver travelled down Xander’s spine at the memory of seeing his friend lying there helplessly, a large piece of wood protruding from her chest.

Shaking away the disturbing memory, Xander once again turned his attention to the sleeping trio, honing in on Buffy and Spike; he couldn’t help but notice the small smiles that played across each of their lips. She was happy. He could clearly see now that Spike made her happy, so how could he try and deny her this? What kind of friend was he to try and tell her this was wrong? After all the hell she’d been through--losing her mother, having to drop out of school to look after Dawn, and then becoming a vampire--of course she would want to be with someone who could be stable with her, especially if that someone was her Sire. It was only natural, and he had been too pig-headed to allow himself to see that. It suddenly occurred to him how selfish he had been, trying to squeeze Buffy into his own perfect image of who she should be. He cringed as he remembered how cavalierly he had told her how she should act and react, how he had declared to her that any feelings she had for Spike were wrong and that Spike had only turned her so he could use her. He had even gone so far as to say that Spike had arranged for Angelus to drain her just so Spike could turn her, though he had only voiced that suspicion once… and now he felt like such a jerk. It was clear to him now, and probably should have been all along—Spike had saved Buffy’s life. In fact, he was quite possibly the only one who could have saved her. If Spike was telling the truth about what had happened on that fateful night, no one else could have helped her once they’d found her, and she would have simply bled to death before they could have gotten her any help. Another shiver travelled down his spine at the thought of how close he had come yet again to losing his friend.

Xander was pulled out of his musings by the sound of Giles and Anya’s voices; Giles was saying something about checking on Willow, and Anya mumbled something about getting some ice for her shoulder. Xander absentmindedly nodded before registering what they said, then realized his own non-comprehension and turned his head in the direction where Giles and Anya once stood. “Huh? What?”

Buffy awoke to the sound of muffled voices and footsteps; slowly opening her eyes, she spotted Xander standing in the doorway. Sitting up carefully so as not to disturb Spike or Dawn, she cautiously stretched her arms over her head. “When did you get back?”

Xander jumped slightly in surprise at the sound of Buffy’s voice, instantly returning his attention to the now-conscious Slayer. “Mmm? Oh, we just got back… Sorry, we didn’t mean to wake you.”

Buffy simply waved her hand in dismissal. “It’s okay… So where’re Giles and Anya?”

“Giles went up to see how Willow’s feeling, and I think Anya’s on ice patrol.” He shrugged. “So how are you? You’re not feeling all dusty or anything, are you?”

Buffy giggled lightly as she stood up and walked over to her friend. “No, no dusty feelings… In fact, all things considered I feel pretty good--especially since I was almost turned into a hat rack.”

Xander gave her a genuine smile before responding. “Yeah, the least she could have done was try and turn you into a useful piece of furniture… You know, like a broom holder. Or at least a towel rack or something.”

Buffy smiled warmly. “My sentiments exactly. So… How are you guys, anyway?”

“We’re all fine. Anya’s a bit bruised, but nothing broken.”

“Good!” Buffy acknowledged with a nod. “So, what did you tell them at the hospital?’’

“We told them that we found Ben in the park, getting beaten by a group of guys on PCP. They seemed to buy it, but we didn’t stick around long enough for them to ask a lot of questions.”

Buffy nodded in agreement. That was probably the best answer they could’ve come up with—what better way to explain their combined injuries? Ben had been mugged and Giles, Xander and Anya had been injured when they came to his rescue. In any other town, the story would have raised some eyebrows, considering the lack of an attack site or any description of the suspects; however, this was Sunnydale, and the police were a little bit more complacent here. After all, they hadn’t even come to investigate a hellgod and her minions tearing apart the house, or the fact that the lawn had spent a good part of the night in flames. Not that Buffy wasn’t happy for that small mercy; the last thing she needed was to have to try to explain all of that away. She didn’t think that Spike’s ‘rowdy barbeque’ excuse would work, even on Sunnydale’s police force. “What did they say about Ben? Is he going to be okay?”

Xander shrugged. “I don’t know. They said it was pretty bad; he had a lot of internal injuries and possibly some swelling of the brain.” On seeing Buffy’s distressed look, Xander instantly wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a comforting embrace. “It’s not your fault, Buffy. You did what you needed to do to save Dawn and the rest of us. If you hadn’t stopped her, all hell would be breaking out right about now—literal hell, Buffy. When it comes down to one person or the whole world, you’ve gotta choose the world.”

Buffy took a deep, steadying breath. “I know. I just feel… dirty… or something.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around,” Xander mumbled.

Buffy creased her brow in confusion. “Huh?’’

Xander gave her a tight smile. “Buffy, I want to talk to you… about Spike.”

Buffy let out an exasperated sigh and a short nod as she waited for yet another of Xander’s patented Spike’s Evil talks.

Xander noticed Buffy tense and start to pull away from him; realizing what she must have been thinking, he quickly shook his head. “No, not that kind of talk. I wanted… I wanted to tell you…” He ran his hands through his hair, trying to think of the best way to say what he wanted to tell her. Letting out a small laugh, Xander returned his attention to Buffy. “Let’s go sit down.”

Buffy watched him with curious fascination; Xander was never this serious. He looked like he really had something important to tell her, and she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. And somehow the fact that he wanted her to be sitting when he came out with it was not of the comforting. Buffy gave him a nervous look as he took her hand and started to walk them towards the dining room.

“Xander, what’s wrong? You’re not sick or anything, are you?”

He gave her a sardonic laugh. “Yeah, I’ve got a terminal case of asshole-itus.” Off Buffy’s blank look, Xander continued. “I wanted to apologize for the way I’ve been treating you and for the things I’ve said. I’ve been an absolute jerk, and I had no right to say any of those things to you… or to Spike. I was WAY out of line…”

“Xander, you don’t have to…”

“Yes I do, Buffy. I want to tell you because I love you and because you deserve to hear it. You’re one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and I don’t want you to hate me.”

“Xander, I don’t hate you,” Buffy began, only to be interrupted again.

“Well, that’s good to know,” he answered, giving her a goofy smile. “But I’m trying to apologize here, and if you keep on interrupting me, I’m gonna have to gag you--and then I’ll just have yet another thing to apologize for.” He flashed her another goofy smile and ducked away from Buffy’s playful slap.

“See! Now I’ve got your attention!” He chuckled softly when Buffy gave him her patented exasperated eye roll. “Okay, back to the subject at hand… I wanted to tell you that I’ve figured out the reason I’ve been acting the way I’ve been acting. I was angry--not much of an excuse, really, but I was just so angry. I was angry at Angelus, at Spike, at you, at the world… but mostly I was angry at myself for letting you get hurt.” Buffy opened her mouth to say something, only to have Xander hold his hand up, stopping her.

“I know I didn’t let you get hurt… but I wasn’t there when you needed me. I know this sounds childish, but I wanted to be the one to save you, like I did before. It hurts me to see you in pain, and after Spike… after he… I could see what it was doing to you, and there wasn’t anything I could do to help. So instead, I got angry, and the angrier I got, the more you pulled away. Everyone was telling me I was wrong, that you needed Spike, and I think that’s what hurt the most. You did need him, and once I saw that, I wasn’t angry anymore, just disappointed. I couldn’t believe that you would even want to see Spike after what he did to you. And then I realized that not only did you not blame him, but you actually started to take comfort in him…”

Buffy’s bottom lip started to tremble. *Why was Xander telling her this?*

Xander saw the movement in Buffy’s lip and noticed that her eyes were shining with unshed tears. He let out a mournful sigh in realization of the fact that he had hurt her again. “Oh please, Buffy, don’t cry. I… I just wanted to… to tell you how special you are to me. When I said I was disappointed in you… I don’t feel that way anymore, and I never should have. It’s just that you’re like my hero, and I’ve had you up on a pedestal for so long that I forgot that you’re also just human…”

“Uhm… Not so much with the human anymore.”

Xander gave her a reassuring smile. “Yes you are, Buff, you’re just a little more diverse… but you’re still you. You’re still the bravest and most selfless person I’ve ever known.”

Buffy responded with a watery smile.

“You’re an amazing person, Buffy, and the most amazing thing about you is that you don’t even know it. You risk your life day in and day out to save people you’ve never even met, and who will probably never even know that you helped them. I’ve seen you make sacrifice after sacrifice, just to keep the world safe for another day, and you deserve to be happy. I just wanted to tell you, if Spike can make that happen, I’m not gonna stand in the way. I… I don’t know if it means anything to you or not… but I wanted to give you and Spike my blessings.”

It only took Buffy a split second to acknowledge what Xander had said. The words ‘I want to give you and Spike my blessings’ still hung in the air, almost like a cartoon speech bubble. Without any hesitation, she threw herself into her friend’s arms, wrapping her tiny arms around his broad shoulders in a bear-like embrace while tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. “Thank you,” she gasped through elated sobs. “You have no idea what that means to me.”

Xander returned Buffy’s embrace with equal vigour. “Oh yeah, pile on even more guilt. It’s not like I’m not already drowning in it,” he teased with a laugh.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. “It’s what I do best.” She lowered her eyes briefly before returning her gaze to Xander. “I mean it, you know. I do care what you guys think.”

“I know,” Xander said quietly, letting Buffy slip out of his arms.

“So?” Buffy asked, taking a deep breath. “What brought about the sudden acceptance?”

Xander shrugged his shoulders. “I had an epiphany.”

“Did it hurt?” Buffy asked with a giggle.

“Yeah, it was kinda painful removing my foot from my mouth. It’s been there so long,” Xander said with a chuckle.

“Not to mention pulling your head out of your arse,” Spike said as he casually leaned against the doorway, flashing Buffy a charming grin when she turned to him. Her features lit up with a bright smile when she saw the mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Yeah, that too,” Xander agreed with a slight shrug and a self-deprecating half-smile. An uncomfortable silence immediately engulfed the room, and the words where do we go from here seemed to infuse each of their thoughts as they stared off into space, each trying to get a handle on the moment. Unable to stand the deafening silence any longer, Xander cleared his throat. “Yeah, well… I think I’ll just go check on Willow.”

“Yeah,” was Buffy’s only response, her eyes still burning into Spike’s dazzling blue orbs. She was momentarily taken aback by the amount of life that shone in them. *How can someone, technically dead seem so alive?*

Xander was rapidly beginning to feel like a dirty old man with voyeuristic tendencies when he glanced at the blonde couple. They hadn’t move from their previous positions, still maintaining a good couple of meters between them, but the red hot looks they were sending each other were almost enough to set the room on fire. Finally turning on his heels, Xander continued his exit, stopping only for a moment as he walked past Spike, who was still leaning against the doorframe. “If you hurt her, you’re dust!” he said in a low threatening voice.


“If I hurt her, mate, I’ll hold the bleedin’ stake while you hammer it into my worthless chest,” Spike retorted, his steely eyes quickly settling on the dark-haired man before him, letting him see the truth behind his words.

Xander stared at the blonde vampire in front him, easily reading the emotion in his eyes. At that moment, Xander could clearly see how much Spike had changed; whether it had been because of the chip in his head, or from his feeling for Buffy, he had metamorphosed into this man before him. The Spike that he thought he knew was no longer there; after all, he still believed that the old Spike could have never loved Buffy and certainly would have never put himself in between her little sister and a roaring hellgod, not only once, but twice. A small smile spread across Xander’s features; if this wasn’t a case of a leopard being able to change its spots, then he didn’t know what it was. He gave Spike a small nod, muttering “It’s a deal,” before exiting the room.

Alone at last, Spike turned to Buffy, grin firmly in place as he advanced slowly upon her. “Interestin’ little twit. Never figured him to be one for existential thought.”

Buffy nodded her head slowly, a small smile playing across her lips. “Sometimes people can surprise you.”

“Is that right, luv?” Spike whispered, now only centimetres away from her.

Feeling the distance between her and Spike closing, Buffy’s smile immediately switched from playful to seductive. “Mm-hmm,” she purred in response.

“You like surprises, pet?” Spike asked, lightly running his finger up her arm.

A small shudder travelled throughout Buffy’s body as Spike’s fingers languorously ran over her heated flesh. With a breathless gasp, she whispered, “Yes.”

“Do I surprise you?” Spike asked, voice husky, only moments before his tongue shot out and grazed her earlobe before sensually travelling down the column of her throat.

Buffy couldn’t suppress the gasp that burst past her lips, her hands swiftly tangling themselves in Spike’s hair and pulling him closer to her. Her heart was pounding with desire, and she momentarily forgot how to breathe when Spike’s cool tongue founds its way to the hollow of her throat, igniting a bonfire of need within her. She didn’t know how she managed to speak, but her mouth somehow fumbled around and managed to speak the word, “Always!”

Spike let out a muffled growl, wrapping his arm around Buffy’s tiny waist and pulling her flush against his muscular body, allowing her to feel his need for her. Buffy was lost; the combination of Spike sensually pressing himself against her and the amazing sensation of his cool tongue and talented fingers dancing over her skin was enough to make her turn to jelly. Somehow, through the haze that had covered her pleasure-driven mind, Buffy was able to focus enough to remember that they were not alone in the house; at any moment, her sister or one of her friends--or worse yet, Giles--could walk in on them and get quite an eyeful. That risk was elevating by the moment, considering that Spike was currently in the process of slowly exposing one of her breasts little by little as he kissed his way down her chest, stopping at the point where Glory had staked her only to lovingly running his tongue over the now-unmarred flesh.

“Spike,” Buffy called, trying to get her lover’s attention; however, the breathless tone of her voice didn’t have quite the desired effect that she was hoping for. Rather than causing him to pause, it instead only seemed to encourage the vampire further, and he uncovered more of her flesh tenderly, one inch at a time.

Buffy closed her eyes, trying to will away the little voice telling her *Don’t make him stop. It feels too good. Who cares if they see you. It’s your house.* Shaking away these thoughts with great difficulty, Buffy tried once again to get his attention. “Spike!” This time her voice held more strength and immediately halted Spike’s actions.

“What?” Spike asked, turning smoky blue eyes upwards to look at Buffy.

“We can’t. Someone will see us.”

“So?” Spike questioned, clearly unfazed by the possibility.

Buffy raised her eyebrows in amazement. “So?” Spike could feel her tense under his fingers. “So, we can’t do this here. I don’t think my little sister really needs to have a live demonstration on the birds and the bees. And I don’t think that my friends are on the pay per view list, either…”

Buffy’s little tirade was cut short when she saw the evil glint in Spike’s eyes. She involuntarily swallowed the huge lump in her throat as his lips slowly descended on hers. “Spike, what...” The kiss that followed took her breath away; it was passionate and demanding and entirely too short.

Spike abruptly stopped the kiss, taking a step away from the stunned Slayer. Buffy just stared at him, panting desperately for breath to replace all that he had just stolen. “Come with me, luv,” he said, taking her hand and leading her to the basement door. Buffy turned huge eyes to Spike, silently questioning him. “You said not here. Don’t think anyone’s gonna bother us in the basement, do you, pet?”

Buffy swallowed heavily, shaking her head no as her eyes fell on Spike’s lips. “They’ll miss me, though, and might come looking… can we do it fast?”

Spike’s lips quirked into a sexy grin. “Oh, I can do fast, pet… But can you do quiet?”

Buffy’s eyes flashed in response to his challenge; she was not going to back down, not when he looked so damned smug. “Oh, I can do quiet… ‘surprise boy’,” she answered tauntingly, and then her lips were hungrily devouring his, one hand pushing him against the basement door as the other frantically reached for the doorknob. Both were too wrapped up in each other to notice Anya, who was standing in the kitchen with an ice pack pressed to her shoulder. Completely undisturbed by the sight of the two vampires entwined, she simply shrugged and went to find Xander.


~*~~*~~*~


“So how do you feel?” Xander queried. He was pleased to see Willow awake, and apparently in good spirits.

“Good. In fact, I’m better than good… I’m great, jubilant even,” Willow replied in a perky voice.

“Can you believe this? She takes on a hellgod, gets battered around like a rag doll, and look… She’s all pepto–girl!” Xander exclaimed disbelievingly to Tara and Giles. He wasn’t exactly sure what he had expected when he came to check on his long-time best friend, but he certainly hadn’t expected her to be so… well, hyper.

Willow waved off Xander’s comments. “Pishh. She didn’t bat me around like a rag doll, Xander. And I’m not pepto-girl. I just feel better now that I’ve had some rest.”

Tara leaned over to Xander’s ear and whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Not to mention the cup of coffee I gave her earlier.”

Xander couldn’t suppress his chuckle. “Ahh, so the caffeine monster strikes again.”

“No, no monster,” Willow stated as she vigorously shook her head for emphasis. “A-and it was only a small mug, a cup almost. So no caffeinated Willow monster… not even a goblin…” Off every one’s looks, Willow rolled her eyes. Who the hell was she kidding, she was practically bouncing on the spot, she was so hyped. “Well, maybe an imp.”


~*~~*~~*~


Buffy wrapped her powerful legs around Spike’s hips, rubbing her sopping mound against his denim-clad erection as he carried her down into the basement one treacherous step at a time. Once they reached the bottom, Spike wasted absolutely no time in unceremoniously dumping Buffy onto the washing machine, all the while ripping at her clothing, frantically trying to uncover the treasures that lay beneath. In return, Buffy’s hands were far from idle, madly struggling to undo the button on Spike’s jeans. Quickly giving in to frustration with her uncooperative fingers, she finally gave up and ripped the front of the garment open, sending the button flying and splintering the zipper into pieces as she tore the remaining fabric away from Spike’s body.

Spike in turn was having a similar problem with Buffy’s pants, cursing under his breath as he tried to push the skintight material past her slender hips and down her legs. “Why the hell are you wearing pants? Out of all the goddamn outfits in your soddin’ closet, you couldn’t think to put on a damn skirt…” Spike’s tirade was cut short when he triumphantly pushed the last of the material past Buffy’s ankles.

Buffy groaned in frustration at the loss of the feeling of Spike’s body pressed against her. “Spike! Stop fooling around and get your undead ass up here!”

Spike took a moment to allow his gaze to travel over Buffy’s gorgeous body from his current position, genuflecting on the floor in front of his goddess. He could see all the way up into heaven, he mused briefly before kicking his inner poet for the inopportune observation. Wasting not another moment, he sprang to his feet and positioned himself at her entrance, groaning at the wet heat that seemed to surround him instantly. Buffy moaned in pleasure as she felt Spike press himself forward, easing his way inside her, stretching and filling her to perfection. Twin gasps filled the room when he finally slid all the way inside her, his pelvis coming to rest against hers; pulling back only slightly, he gave one short, sharp thrust that slammed against her clit and set her on fire. Spike barely held back a curse when Buffy’s powerful muscles contracted around him; he felt like he was dangerously close to coming, and he’d only just entered her. Closing his eyes, he stilled the shallow movements he had just begun, trying desperately to regain some of his control. Buffy, however, seemed to have other ideas; she thrust her hips towards him pleadingly, quietly gasping when her clit again rubbed against the coarse hair at the base of his shaft. Losing the last semblance of control, Spike surrendered to his basest impulses, his eyes flashing gold. Buffy saw the raw lust in his eyes, and the sight induced another breathy moan from Buffy in the instant before he grabbed hold of her hips and began slamming into her like a man possessed.

“Spike… oh… oh… feels… so… good,” Buffy gasped out, breaths shortened by the force of his thrusts.

Spike responded with a low growl, causing Buffy to shiver with excitement. She had never felt anything like this before; nothing had ever been so carnal and wild. She felt like she was flying and sinking at the same time; like she desperately wanted to breathe, but at the same time needed to hold her breath. This wasn’t tender; her ears did not fill with the sound of a dulcet choir, and she sure as hell wasn’t lying on a bed of roses. This was rough, and frantic… and by far one of the most erotic experiences of her entire life.

Spike was just as lost as Buffy, a slave to the rhythm that his body needed and pursued. He couldn’t remember when he had last totally lost control like he was at this moment; he felt as if his body was in control, and the rest of him was just along for the ride. He gave a mental shrug before tightening his hands on Buffy’s hips and leaning forward to capture a peaked nipple between his teeth, groaning desperately as her muscles again clamped down around him, temporarily holding him prisoner inside her. Oh, but what a ride it was.


~*~~*~~*~


Anya was on her way upstairs to find Xander when she was sidetracked by Dawn’s sleepy voice.

“Where’d everybody go?” the teenager asked, drowsily rubbing her eyes before stretching her arms over her head.

“Well, Buffy and Spike are in the basement. I don’t know where Giles is, or Xander for that matter. Probably checking on Willow; after all, he’s practically obsessed with her… I mean all he would talk about the entire time we were at the hospital was Willow this and Buffy that, blah-blah-blah. I mean who cares anymore that Buffy was staked? It’s not like it killed her. And Willow’s fine; she only passed out, for God’s sake. But here I am, in genuine pain, and he’s nowhere to be seen.”

“He’s probably just worried about them, Anya. He doesn’t have to worry about you because he already knows that you’re all right. You were with him at the hospital, and they weren’t.” Dawn’s brow furrowed when she notice the icepack in Anya’s hand. “You are all right, aren’t you?”

Anya gave Dawn a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. “Yeah, just a little bruised. Nothing life-threatening.”

“That’s good,” Dawn answered with a small smile.

“But Xander should still be at least a little bit worried about me,” Anya answered, smiling at Dawn as the younger girl nodded her agreement.

~*~~*~~*~

The happy chatter of Willow, Xander, Tara and Giles filled the hallway as they made their way downstairs to find Anya and Dawn sitting alone on the couch, discussing the already purpling bruise on Anya’s arm.

Xander immediately walked over and sat down next to his girlfriend, placing a loving arm around her shoulders and gently running his fingers along the bruised appendage before leaning in to give her a tender kiss. “How’s my little boo-boo doin’?” he asked affectionately, giving her arm another gentle rub.

Anya smiled warmly, leaning into Xander’s embrace. “Better now that you’re here,” she answered sweetly.

Willow and Tara shared a meaningful look with each other over Xander and Anya’s sickly sweet behaviour. Who would have imagined that an eleven-hundred-year old ex-vengeance demon and a man once known as the Zeppo could be so happy with each other… or so unbearably schmoopy?

“Just call me Dr Feelgood,” Xander responded, giving Anya another tender kiss before snuggling in closer to her. “So… where’s the Buffster?” he inquired.

“Oh, she’s probably still in the basement having sex with Spike,” Anya said offhandedly, leaning her head onto Xander’s broad shoulder.

“Anya!!” Xander exclaimed, mortified, as he pulled away from his girlfriend to look at her.

“What?! What did I say?”

“Ahn!”

“What? All I said was that Buffy and Spike were probably still in the process of copulating with each other in the basement even as we speak. It’s perfectly normal. As a matter of fact, I’m kinda surprised it took them this long to get all physical. I mean, after a fight like that, who wouldn’t want to have sex?”

Xander jumped to his feet, roughly running his fingers through his hair and trying to block out the disturbing images that Anya conjured up. “Okay… First of all, Buffy and Spike are not having sex in the basement… not with us up here, at least. They’re probably doing the laundry or something… and secondly never, ever mention the words Buffy, Spike and sex in the same sentence! I’m OK with the dating, but I don’t want to hear about the… other stuff. And third can we change the subject here before I go hysterically deaf?”

Anya looked around the room at the other occupants. “Oh, come on! You can’t tell me that after a battle like that your first thought wasn’t about finding a nice quiet place and have lots of hot sweaty sex?”

“Ahn!! Word pictures!!” Xander yelled, more than a little mortified by her bluntness.

“What? It’s the truth!” Anya responded, more than a little annoyed by Xander’s density on the subject.

“Yes, well… I quite agree with you, Xander, that a change of topic is most definitely required,” Giles mumbled, flushing as he scrubbed at his eyeglass lenses vigorously with the edge of his shirt.

“I don’t know why you’re all acting like such children. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Adrenalin is known to increase sexual desires. It’s kind of the body’s way of saying, ‘Yay! I’m alive… now let’s make babies, because life’s short!’ There’s nothing wrong with that; well except in your case, Dawn. You’re too young to have sex. Besides, the only other person here without a partner is Giles, and that would just be creepy…”

“Ahn!!”

“What? I was just pointing out that Giles was too old to have sex…”

“I beg your pardon!” Giles objected, managing to look both horrified and outraged.