---

Buffy’s back arched in pleasure as Spike pushed her legs upwards, changing the angle of his thrusts and allowing him even deeper penetration. With each stroke he twisted his hips, enabling him to hit the sensitive bundle of nerves hidden deep within her. She could feel her release building, starting all the way down in her toes and slowly working its way up her legs and into her belly.

“Aaagh… Spike… so close… don’t stop… uhm… please… need.”

Spike slowed his movements slightly, prompting Buffy to jerk her head up to look at him pleadingly. Staring into Buffy’s eyes, Spike asked teasingly, “What do you need, kitten?”

“You… need you… ooh… make me come… ahh… need to come… so close, baby... please?”

Spike let out another growl, making Buffy shiver in excitement, and began to pound into her again. Throwing her head back in pleasure, Buffy squeezed her eyes shut and lost herself in the sensation of her imminent rapture.

“Look at me,” Spike growled commandingly. Buffy’s eyes immediately shot open in response, and she found herself getting even more aroused by his forceful tone. “I want you to look at me when you come.”

It took all of Buffy’s strength not to squeeze her eyes shut when Spike released his hold on her thighs and wrapped her legs around his narrow hips, positioning himself to ensure that her hypersensitive clit was stimulated with every thrust of his hips.

Spike watched as Buffy’s eyes glazed over with passion and need. It thrilled him to see her obey his command so willingly, even though she clearly had to fight her own desires to do so. Spike’s fingers bit into Buffy’s hips as he mercilessly pounded into her heated sheath, leaving small bruises temporarily marring her perfect skin. For her part, Buffy was in heaven; the combination of pleasure and pain was intoxicating, and her desire was elevated beyond anything she’d ever felt before by the look in Spike’s eyes as she held his gaze. She wanted desperately to scream out in delight, but she had to be quiet; she couldn’t make a sound--that was the deal. Biting down on her bottom lip in a desperate attempt to keep quiet, she was so lost in her own pleasure that she didn’t even realize that she had drawn blood. The blood, however, would prove to be Spike’s undoing; the scent of Buffy’s potent blood, combined with the sensation of her tight heat surrounding his turgid shaft, quickly pushed the master vampire right to the brink. The sensation of Buffy’s inner muscles clamping down on his thick shaft as she whimpered out her orgasm was the final push over the edge into release for Spike; letting out a growl of completion, he instantly crushed his mouth to Buffy’s, drowning in the taste of her as he chased every trace of her spilled blood, not wanting to waste even a single drop.

Letting out a breathless sigh, Buffy leaned limply against Spike’s chest, a contented smile playing across her lips as she ran light butterfly kisses across Spike’s collarbone. With a soft moan, she quietly mumbled, “Mmm… heaven.”

In response, Spike wrapped his arms around her small shoulders, pulling her petite form closer to him before whispering in a husky voice, “’m right there with you, sweetheart.” They held each other like that for a good while, simply enjoying the other’s presence and the warm glow of completion. Unfortunately, however, soon the weight of reality became too heavy.

“We should probably be heading back up. They’ll be looking for us,” Buffy mumbled reluctantly.

Spike simply nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah,” he said, squeezing her briefly before reluctantly releasing his hold on Buffy’s tiny body. As he pulled away, they both let out a mournful groan at the loss as he slid from her depths.

With a contented sigh, Buffy arched her back and languidly stretched her arms above her head before sliding off the washing machine and going in search of her clothes.

Spike watched Buffy dress in quiet awe before retrieving his own discarded clothing from the floor, only to find them in near tatters. His black t-shirt hung loosely across his chest as a result of Buffy’s stretching it during her desperate attempt to remove it from his body, but at least it was still wearable. His jeans, on the other hand, were destroyed, the zipper completely shattered and the button was nowhere to be found. “You’re a bloody menace, you are,” he grumbled, looking down at his destroyed attire.

Buffy raked her eyes appraisingly over Spike, taking in the way his jeans hung low on his hips and left almost nothing to the imagination. She licked her lips and tilted her head to the side, languidly sweeping her gaze over his chiselled body. “I kinda like ‘em… easy access and all,” she finally said with a saucy grin.

With a sexy smirk he shook his head. “Vixen.”

Buffy laughed. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Spike chuckled and slowly advanced on the flirtatious Slayer. “Might want to watch that tongue of yours, pet. You keep talking like that and we’ll never leave this bloody basement. At least not until you’re bowlegged and near-comatose from pleasure.”

Buffy flashed him a sexy grin. “Once again, I repeat. You say that like it’s a bad thing.”


~*~~*~~*~


Some time later, Buffy and Spike finally managed to vacate their basement sanctuary, only to find the whole gang standing in the kitchen in the midst of making much-needed recuperation snacks. Six pairs of eyes quickly landed on the two dishevelled blondes as they made their way through the basement door. Taking in the questioning looks on her friend’s faces, Buffy nervously cleared her throat. “Oh! Hey guys… Spike was just helping me fix the… plumbing. You see, there was this drip, and h-he helped me fix it, so now no more dripping… from the pipe that was leaking,” she finished lamely.

Taking in Spike’s shredded clothing, Xander just had to comment. “That must have been one hell of a drip, Buff!”

Spike gave him a proud smirk. “We all coulda drowned if I hadn’t stopped it up, mate. But I gave it a damn good fix, so shouldn’t be a problem for a bit.”

Anya bit her lip as she took in the way that Spike’s jeans were hanging low on his hips, showing off many of his attributes and hinting strongly at others. Her mouth practically watered as she swept her eyes over his exposed flesh. “Xander, can you help me fix my plumbing? I feel kinda drippy too,” Anya announced abruptly.

Paying no attention to Anya’s comment, Xander kept his attention on the blonde duo. “You know Buffy, when I gave you my blessings, I didn’t mean for you and Spike to go and make hot bunny love in the basement right that minute.”

“Again with the bunnies!” Anya shrieked. “I swear, you know just the right thing to say to get me out of the mood, Alexander Harris!”

“Thank heavens for small miracles,” Giles replied, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to block out the conversation going on around him.

Spike laughed. “Nice work, Harris. Didn’t know that the demon bird had an off switch.”

Listening to the exchange of banter, Buffy casually leaned against the kitchen counter, idly playing with a piece of fruit. She tilted her head to the side in curiosity as her enhanced senses were assaulted by a new scent. Taking a deep breath, she tried to discern just what the oddly familiar aroma was, and then it hit her. Arousal… that was what she could smell. Casting her eyes around the kitchen, she noticed that every female in the room reeked of it. Following their line of sight, she noticed that they were all staring at Spike; anger infused her tiny body when she realized that they were all looking at her man candy. Even Willow and Tara were practically drooling all over themselves as they drank in the sight of her man’s sculptured body. Letting out a possessive growl, she grabbed Spike roughly by the arm, pulling him from the room and away from the leering eyes for her friends and little sister.

After dragging Spike upstairs, she abruptly thrust a change of clothing into his hand before storming into the bathroom, leaving behind a thoroughly confused vampire.

~*~~*~~*~

Feeling much calmer and refreshed from her shower, Buffy made her way downstairs in search of Giles. She found him sitting at the dining table, writing what she presumed were the day’s events into his diary. Upon hearing her enter, Giles stopped writing and focused his attention on the tiny blonde.

Buffy nervously chewed on her bottom lip, obviously deep in thought. “Can I ask you something, Giles?”

“Why, of course, Buffy,” he replied with a kind smile.

Buffy cast her eyes down to the ground before returning her gaze to her Watcher. “What am I?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Giles replied, furrowing his brow in confusion at Buffy’s unexpected question.

“She staked me, Giles… she staked me right through the heart, but I’m still here,” Buffy said sombrely, locking Giles in place with her questioning stare.

“Yes, I know…” he trailed off, unable to comprehend how close he had once again been to losing this amazing girl.

“So why aren’t I dead?” she asked, her eyes pleading for answers.

“I don’t know, Buffy… I’m at a loss for an answer to that matter myself.” He placed a loving hand over hers, giving it a gentle squeeze before continuing. “I just thank the Powers that you are alright.’’

Buffy nodded her head, still deep in thought. “What if I can’t die, Giles? What if I’m really immortal? I mean, a stake trough the heart would definitely kill either a vampire or a Slayer, so why am I still here?”

Giles’ brow once again creased in confusion. “Is that a problem, Buffy? Did you mean for Glory to kill you?”

Buffy shook her head in clear disagreement. “No, Giles, I don’t want to die. Still very happy to be in the alive and kicking club. It’s just… forever’s a long time, you know? What if I get bored… what if I live so long that I just want it to be over with… what happens when everyone I love grows old and dies and I’m left all alone?”

“Spike is immortal, too, Buffy. And he seems quite devoted to you; I have faith that he’ll show you no less then utter devotion, as he showed Drusilla. You’ll always have him, Buffy, even after the rest of us have passed. You’ll never be alone,’’ Giles reminded her tenderly.

“Spike can die too, Giles…” she trailed off, lost in tormented thoughts of what-ifs. “It’s just that this is all so new to me. I’ve never expected to have a future and now it’s so huge and daunting and it just scares the hell out of me. I’ve always been told that I had an expiration date. I’m the Slayer, the one who dies young. I’m not supposed to be indestructo girl. I mean, what if something really bad happens to me… what if I get me head cut off or something? I don’t want to spend an eternity carrying my head around under my arm like some sort of Sleepy Hollow reject. You know me--I’ll be likely to lose it the very first week, and I don’t think that Sears has a lost ’n found bin that covers missing heads,” Buffy rambled, seemingly unaware of the humour within her rant.

Giles couldn’t help but smile at his young ward. “I believe that that may somewhat unlikely to happen, Buffy. As a matter of fact, one would assume that decapitation would almost certainly terminate any life form. Very few creatures can survive without brain function; indeed, I’ve only ever heard of it in cases of insects such as cockroaches, and even still they soon perished due to thirst.”

“Gee, way to inspire the troops, Giles,” Buffy grumbled.

“Yes, I suppose it was a bit… I’m sorry, it was very callous of me to draw that particular analogy,” Giles hastily apologised.

“It’s okay. I know I’m only being stupid, anyway; I mean, most people live their life afraid of their own mortality, and here I am afraid of my immortality.”

“It’s only natural to be afraid of the unknown, Buffy we just have to learn to play the hand that the fates have dealt us, one card at a time.”

“Yeah, but why do I get the feeling that they’ve just reshuffled the deck?” she complained, pout firmly in place.

Giles chuckled light-heartedly at Buffy’s comment. “Be that as it may, you still have a hand to play. My advice would be to make the most of if; the possibilities are quite endless.”

“Yeah, endless possibilities for a possibly endless life,” she replied dejectedly.

“Not a terribly bad place to be,” Giles replied, closely watching the tiny blonde in front of him. She obviously had something else troubling her thoughts.

“Yeah, I guess,” Buffy mumbled in response.

Tilting his head to the side, Giles felt compelled to ask, “Is there something else bothering you? You seem rather despondent.”

Buffy forced herself to focus on her Watcher. “Yeah… I… I was just wondering what all of this means. I mean, for me… Am I now compelled to act out the role of the Slayer forever? Because I don’t think I can do that, Giles.”

Confusion flooded the Watcher’s features. With a quick swipe of his wrist, he pulled his glasses off and stared at the lenses for a moment before beginning to slowly, methodically polish every inch of them. Finally unable to contain himself, he voiced his concerns. “Are you implying that you’re planning on leaving the hellmouth unprotected?”

Buffy shook her head at the man’s mortified question. “No! No, I’m not going to turn my back on my duty. Not while I’m the hellmouth’s soul protector. But in time, another Slayer will be called and then what?” she asked. “I mean, it doesn’t seem fair to have me do this forever, Giles. The Slayer wasn’t meant to be forever… we’re not even really supposed to last a decade.”

Giles placed a supportive hand on Buffy’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before answering. “When that occurs, then you get to be simply Buffy. Nothing more could possibly be expected of you. Of course you need not slay demons on a nightly basis, particularly if you do not wish to do so. That would be the Slayer’s responsibility.”

Buffy responded with a watery smile before wrapping her strong arms around Giles in an elated hug. “Thank you, Giles. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.” A feeling of fatherly delight rolled through Giles as he returned the embrace.

“Oy! Keep your hands to yourself, mate,” Spike announced, finally making his presence known. After getting dressed, he’d gone in search of Buffy, hoping to find out what the hell all that upstairs had been about. The bloody woman ran from hot to cold in a matter of minutes, leaving him thoroughly confused. After a quick search of the house he’d found her talking to her watcher. Apparently neither of them had noticed his presence, seemingly too deep in conversation... so he settled on eavesdropping. He was evil, after all.

Both parties immediately jumped apart at the barked order, only to find a very amused vampire grinning at them.

“Spike! How ruddy long have you been standing there?” Giles snapped.

“Long enough to see you tryin’ to grope on my woman,” Spike replied cheekily.

“I beg your pardon?! I would never!” Giles sputtered, evidently shocked by Spike’s teasing accusation.

Spike barked out a laugh, loving the look of indignation that formed on the normally unflappable man’s face. “Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist, Watcher. I know you wouldn’t know the first thing about groping another bloke’s bird. Probably not in the Watcher’s Manual ‘n all.”
“Now see here!” Giles contested with righteous anger, fury making him tremble as he took a menacing step closer to the infuriating vampire.

“Ooh, Watcher. Are you coming on to me, or having a seizure?” Spike mocked, unable to stop himself from further tormenting the flabbergasted Englishman.

This response finally broke through Giles’ fury and resulted only in the older man shaking his head in irritation, complaining about “damned annoying vampires and their blasted arrogant attitudes” as he walked out of the room, leaving Buffy and Spike alone once more.

Buffy quirked her eyebrow at Spike in annoyance. “Your woman?”

Spike gave her a cheeky smirk as he sauntered closer. “Yeah. You’re my woman.”

Buffy laughed at his declaration of possession. “Neanderthal much? You sound like a dog marking his territory. You’re not gonna try to pee on me, are you?”

Spike chuckled. “I think I’ll be able to contain myself, luv.” Tilting his head to the side, he asked, “So what was all that about upstairs, luv? Sure would be nice to give a bloke a reason for the cold shoulder.”

Buffy just scoffed. “Oh come on, don’t act like you don’t know what that was about.”

“Might want to throw me a torch, luv, because I’m completely in the dark over here.”

“I’m talking about you just standing there and letting half of the female population of Sunnydale just ogle you.”

“What?”

“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about! You just stood there and let my friends and Dawn ogle you! And you just acted like it wasn’t happening!”

“So let me get this straight. You’re all pissed off at me because your friends and Lil’ Bit looked at me?”

“Not just looked, Spike! They were practically drooling all over themselves. And you let them! How could you let them, Spike? That’s my yummy goodness they where looking at, not theirs.”

Spike smirked at her response, taking a step closer. “Your yummy goodness, huh? To coin a phrase, ‘Neanderthal much’? Looks to me like my little Goldilocks has a bad case of the green-eyed monster.”

“No, I don’t, Spike!” Buffy hissed in frustration. “I just don’t know why you had to flaunt yourself around half-naked in front of my friends.”

Spike raised his scarred eyebrow in amusement. “In case you’ve forgotten, luv, you’re the one responsible for me showing off the wares to your little friends. So you can thank yourself for giving the Scoobets a free peek of ol’ Spike in most of his glory.”

A pout formed on Buffy’s face, and she raised her eyes to his for the first time since the argument had begun. “Well there you go again. I had a perfectly good argument forming, and you just have to bring the facts into it.”

Spike chuckled as he took one final step closer to his pouting childe, lightly running his hand down her arm in a soothing gesture. He pulled her closer, wrapping his strong arms around her small frame before placing a series of sweet kisses down the column of her throat. Buffy’s breath hitched when she felt Spike flick his tongue out, lightly laving her earlobe before whispering huskily, “Got nothin’ to worry ‘bout, kitten. They can ogle me all they like. ‘s not like I’ll ever notice, because all I ever see is you.”

A whimper escaped Buffy’s lips when Spike lightly bit her earlobe and then began nibbling a sensual path along her jaw. Tilting her head to the side, Buffy gave her sire total access to her delectable neck, silently urging him to take what he wanted. A fervent growl emanated from Spike’s chest at Buffy’s unspoken invitation.

Another whimper passed Buffy’s lips when she heard the erotic sound of Spike’s impassioned growl, followed almost immediately by the amazing sensation of his sharp canines entering her willing flesh.

Spike moaned in pleasure as he drew in large mouthfuls of Buffy’s sweet blood. She tasted like power and perfection, and he could taste also his own blood mingled in with her unique essence, telling him that she was without a doubt his and his alone. He swore that he could almost feel his dead heart starting to beat again as her blood infused his very being, satiating a hunger that had consumed him for far too long. This was what he needed, this was his salvation--his golden Slayer, his perfect childe.

Throwing her head back in pleasure, Buffy squeezed her eyes shut as she lightly wove her fingers through Spike’s hair. Nothing had ever felt so right before, not like this; this was perfection, this exhilarating sensation of having Spike’s teeth imbedded in her flesh as he clung to her like a drowning man with her as his only hope of deliverance. She could feel his love for her with every gulp he took. This was nothing like the other times he’d opened her veins; those had been about pure need and sexual release, but this was about reassurance, about proving to her that he loved her and her alone. She could feel his eternal devotion to her with every sweep of his tongue, and she knew without a doubt that he spoke the truth when he said all he could see was her. Nothing had ever seemed as clear as it did right now.

She felt Spike extricate his fangs from her heated flesh and found herself echoing his moan of disappointment. A light purr escaped Spike’s chest as he lightly licked the last remnants of blood from Buffy’s neck before the two small puncture wounds completely healed over.

Buffy lazily opened her eyes to find herself looking into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. With a shaky breath, she ghosted her fingertips over Spike’s bottom lip, wiping away the last remnants of her blood.

Spike practically combusted when Buffy placed her fingers to her lips, lightly sucking each digit into her mouth and cleaning them of any traces of blood. An animalistic growl erupted in Spike’s chest as he gripped Buffy by the shoulders, pulling her flush to his lean form and passionately claming her mouth in a searing kiss. Buffy moaned in response, practically melting when Spike caressed her tongue with his own, allowing her to taste her own blood mingled with his unique flavours. Her hands once again found themselves threaded through Spike’s hair, holding him close as she returned his breathtaking kiss.

Buffy’s head was spinning, and she felt like her entire world had just been thrown totally off kilter. No one had ever made her burn like this, and she felt so alive it frightened her. It was like she was completely and utterly out of control, but at the same time she felt so grounded that she could have been made of stone. She felt like she merely existed for this moment, like it was destined that she should end up in this man’s arms. With no small amount of hesitation, Buffy threw caution to the wind and allowed herself to be swept away.

With a sensual sigh, they ended the kiss, both panting for breath as they came down from their high.

Spike was the first to break the silence, his chest still rapidly rising and falling as he panted for unneeded breath. “Oh God, Buffy, I love you. I love you so much!”

Buffy was at a loss, unable to voice her own feelings. After being closed off for so long, she didn’t know what she felt for this man; she only knew it ran deep. She just needed time to put the words to the feelings. So she remained silent, giving him a brilliant smile and allowing him to see the wealth of emotion in her eyes before tucking her head under his chin, resting her cheek on his chest and simply drawing comfort from being securely nestled within his arms.


~*~~*~~*~

When Buffy and Spike finally re-emerged from their private conference, they found the entire gang attempting to tidy what remained of the demolished living room. They were happily chatting amongst themselves as they picked up various pieces of debris, placing everything in a neat pile in the corner.

Anya was the first to notice Buffy and Spike’s return. They each had an arm slung around the other’s waist as they strolled casually into the room like they had been together for years; seemingly forgotten were the past weeks during which Buffy had sent Spike into exile simply for saying that he had feelings for her.

Buffy herself noticed the easy familiarity between she and Spike as well, and thought about it for a moment, realizing that everything in the past was just that—past. She had been a different person then, had refused to see Spike as anything other than a demon, no matter how much she secretly admired his changes and… well, lusted after him. She had told herself that she had done the right thing by locking him out; after all, he had chained her to a wall and threatened too feed her to Drusilla. She had never given much thought to the fact that she had asked Willow to un-invite him before the confrontation in his crypt had even occurred; apparently the idea of him having feelings for her had been even more threatening than Drusilla. In her mind, she had seen him as a threat rather than just a desperate man, trying to get her to listen to him after she had defied every other effort… but that time of doubting him and treating him as less than a person was past.

Anya took in the casual display of tenderness between the pair, coupled with the contented smile that played across Buffy’s lips, and could only come to one conclusion. “Did you and Spike just have sex again?” she asked, wanting to satisfy her curiosity.

Buffy let out a small embarrassed laugh at Anya’s straightforward question. “No, Anya, we didn’t just have sex.”

Anya looked at the bottle blondes, once again observing their body language; everything about them just screamed recent sex, no matter how much Buffy denied it. “I don’t understand. If you didn’t just have sex, then why are you all glowy, and Spike’s all cocky?”

Buffy laughed again, this time with much more embarrassment; she wasn’t about to announce to her friends that the reason she looked all glowy was because Spike had just had his fangs buried in her neck, or for that matter that she had practically begged him to do it. There were some things best kept private. “We just had a quality moment,” she finally answered, giving Spike a sly smile that he returned with a cheeky grin of his own.

“You were only alone for a couple of minutes. How much of a quality moment could you have had?” As the question passed Anya’s lips, she suddenly felt envious of the petite Slayer; the ex-demon knew all too well just how much quality a master vampire could cram into a couple of minutes.

“Oh, it was quality,” Spike replied, cocky grin firmly in place as he claimed Buffy’s lips in a tender kiss.

A rush of mixed reactions enveloped the room as the Scoobies took in the sight of Buffy and Spike sharing a kiss in front of them for the first time.

Giles instantly removed his glasses, effectively blinding himself from the spectacle of his charge openly kissing William the Bloody right in front of him. He knew that they were a couple, and even that Buffy was depending upon Spike for eternal company, but he was quite certain that he never again needed to see proof of their affection for one another. Ever.

Willow, Tara and Dawn all shared a warm smile; they were pleased that the blonde duo appeared to be so happy and comfortable together.

Anya mostly looked jealous; it just wasn’t fair that Buffy got to have a quality moment without intercourse. She really needed to get herself a pet vampire. This thought brought a smile to her face as mental pictures of Xander nibbling on her neck while they played out her new sex game flooded her mind. *Wonder if plastic teeth feel as good as real ones?* the ex-demon mused silently.

Xander, for his part, mostly looked uncomfortable; he was happy for his friend--she looked truly alive for the first time in years—but that didn’t mean that he was able to stomach watching she and Spike play dentist in front of him. “You know, Buff… some of us are still trying to recover from almost seeing Spike’s dangly bits, and it a little hard to repress the memories with you macking on Evil Dead.”

Upon hearing her friend’s complaint, Buffy pulled away from Spike. Embarrassment coloured the Slayer’s cheeks as she glanced around the room, taking in her friend’s expressions.

She let out a laugh when her eyes landed on Willow; her redheaded friend sported a huge grin and was giving her two thumbs up in approval.

Tara, as always, glowed with easy and joyful acceptance, giving Buffy a sweet smile before shyly ducking her head in embarrassment.

Dawn wore an expression of gleeful smugness, tinged with a bit of jealousy. It was, after all, her big crush that her sister was now smoochie-buddies with, but she could deal if it made Buffy as happy as she seemed to be.

Xander looked slightly ill, but accepting. He was trying; Buffy could clearly see that in every aspect of his bearing and expression. So much had happened over the last few days, particularly between she and Spike, and she realized that up until now she’d forgotten just how new this was to all of them. Was it only last week she had been condemning Spike for his actions and feelings and locking him out of her life?

Anya looked like she was about to jump someone—namely a Xander-shaped someone. *OH MY GOD, we turned Anya on!* Buffy thought to herself, a little amused but mostly squicked.

On this disturbing thought she turned her attention to her Watcher, who looked as though he was desperately wishing for Willow to perform another Will-Be-Done spell; his eyes were darting around the room looking at everything but she and Spike, and it seemed clear that blindness would have at least been more convenient for him.

“So, are we Bronzing it?” Xander asked randomly, breaking the silence in the room in an effort to shake the air of discomfort that had settled on everyone.

Buffy nodded her head in affirmation. “Yeah, I think I’m up for some obligatory post-apocalypse Bronze action.”

Spike quirked his eyebrow in question, having never before really been invited to or involved with any of the Scoobie rituals.

Seeing her Sire’s perplexed look, Buffy explained the age-old custom. “It’s, like, this thing we do whenever we avert an apocalypse… kinda like a tradition. The world didn’t end, we go party!”

“Well, then, luv,” he chuckled in response, wrapping an arm around her shoulder before turning to address the rest of the room. “I say we party.”