Walking on Sunshine

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There was a low growl as a pale arm moved swiftly, long fingers pushing the sleep button on the radio alarm clock. The sickeningly chipper song about walking on sunshine continued to play. Blue eyes flashed in the darkness as the figure laying in the bed moved closer to the alarm, noticing with annoyance that the red numbers flashed the time of 6:42, watching closely as the sleep button was pushed. It still continued to play. There was another growl as the handsome man sat up, the sheet moving to his bare waist as he scowled at the radio. He pushed the power button but the radio continued playing. With a final growl, he grabbed the plug and pulled it free from the wall outlet. Finally, there was silence.

Spike put the radio back on the table beside his bed, running a hand over his face as he realized that he was awake. There would be no falling back into a dreamless sleep. The malfunctioning alarm had assured that. He was awake and he wasn't happy about it. His eyes found the radio, narrowing as he realized that he did not set his alarm for six something in the morning. Hell, he never used the alarm feature of the radio alarm. He used it to play his CDs and that was it, occasionally turning on the local classic rock station when he was tired of hearing his limited choice of music CDs. That song that had been playing was certainly not something he would have classified as classic nor rock. Bubble gum music was the term that came to mind. He glanced at the radio dial, noting that it was, indeed, set on a different station. His eyes closed and he grimaced as he remembered Dawn and Willow's visit the previous evening.

Dawn had turned on the radio and listened to some new retro station that only played music from the seventies and eighties. Waste of time, in his opinion, since the songs that they had played had been some of the worst crap he'd ever been forced to listen to. He'd enjoyed making fun of the songs, causing Dawn and Willow to either be annoyed or to giggle when he made a valid point concerning their ridiculous lyrics and pointlessness. Dawn must have been more annoyed than she'd let on, though, since she must have set his alarm at such an ungodly hour out of retribution for his teasing. He was a bit proud of her for thinking of such a devious torture, at the same time he was irritated that his sleep had been interrupted. What was he thinking? It hadn't been Dawn. It had been Red. This was definitely a subtle trick from the witch. She'd probably done it when he'd gone up to the kitchen to fetch his blood. That would explain why she had conveniently needed to go meet the slayer after work for a quick patrol and why Dawn had been trying to stop giggling when he'd come back.

That's what he got for living with the slayer, he decided. He should have stayed at his crypt, should have lived on his own without worrying about impromptu visits from Niblet and Red to listen to silly music and wake up calls in the early morning hours. But, no, he'd moved in the slayer's place and settled rather comfortably in the basement. It was the witch's fault. Not just the wake up call, but all of it. He could blame her, able to work through things to logically place the blame of him living at the slayer's house on someone other than himself. She had been the one to suggest him moving into the basement, after all.

He chose to forget that she had made the suggestion after he had spent three weeks sleeping on the sofa after Buffy's death. He'd promised the slayer that he'd take care of Dawn and her group of friends and there wasn't much he could do to keep an eye on them from his crypt, so he'd taken up residence on the sofa. After three weeks, Willow had seemed to realize that he meant to keep his promise and accept that he wasn't going anywhere. She'd gotten the others to help fix up the basement for him. Surprised him with it and everything. Sneaky little witch, pretty good at keeping secrets when needed. She'd also managed to keep her plans to bring Buffy back a secret from him, something he still hadn't fully forgiven if he were being completely honest. When the slayer had come back, he'd been tempted to move back to the crypt, not wanting to live with the slayer and still angry and hurt that Red hadn't included him in her plans. He hadn't moved, though. He had become far too spoiled by that point. He'd lived with Niblet and Red for months, had routines set up, had made the basement his home. He'd not wanted to go back to the empty crypt. Strangely enough, Buffy had accepted his presence in her home and not squawked about him leaving.

Course, it wasn't like the slayer cared all that much about anything when she'd first come back. She hadn't cared about anything or anyone but herself. She'd been extremely rude to Red, not seeming to care or realize what the witch had had to do to bring her back. She didn't see how she was hurting everyone around her that cared by being such a selfish bitch. Okay, so she had the whole pulled from heaven thing to be a bit resentful for, but she'd been damn annoying with her constant sulking and sniping at everyone. Didn't hear him constantly bitching about getting implanted and not being able to live the life he wanted, well, not that much anyway. They'd been better off without her, in his opinion. She'd caused a tension in the group, set people on edge even if she didn't mean to. All her whining and moping had nearly forced him into leaving, but he'd not wanted to leave Niblet and Red to deal with the slayer alone. Luckily, she'd seemed to get over her mood after that singing demon had fucked with them all. In fact, she seemed to be getting better every day, becoming a bit more like the girl he thought he'd loved.

He didn't love her anymore. Wasn't really sure if he ever really had. He'd wanted her, wanted to break her, to possess her, but he'd had time to think after she'd died. When she'd come back, he'd known. It had never been love. Infatuation and lust, but not love. He'd been relieved in a lot of ways when he'd figured that out. She seemed to have realized the difference, relaxing around him in a way that she never had before. They'd become friends, strangely enough. He rolled out of bed, stretching before walking towards the little room that held his sink and shower.

The moron had fixed the small room himself. The shower always worked and there hadn't even been a leak with the sink. Spike had initially hoped something might go wrong with it so he'd be able to use it as ammunition during his teasing of Xander. He turned on the shower, covering a yawn as he realized that he'd not slept four hours. He usually didn't sleep all that long, but he enjoyed lying around in bed until the early afternoon, watching his small telly or listening to his music. He stepped into the shower, cursing when the ice-cold water washed over his nude body. He turned the faucet to hot, but the water was still freezing cold. He grumbled about faulty plumbing as he washed quickly, not enjoying the cold shower.

He was finished in a few minutes, turning the water off and stepping out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and dried off, hanging the wet towel across the shower rod to dry. He walked back into his room, his hand brushing through his wet hair as his eyes searched for where he had left his clothes. He found his jeans on the floor by the chair, pulling them on and fastening them before he grabbed a fresh shirt from his dresser. He slid the navy blue T-shirt over his head before sitting on the bed and pulling on his boots. Once they were fastened, he stood and moved towards the door.

He could smell pancakes, which was unusual for a Friday. Saturday and Sunday were usually cooked breakfast days, the weekdays left for cereal or toast. He liked the weekends. Red would always save him leftovers or bring him something down if they cooked something that wouldn't be good if it sat for a few hours. Today, though, on a Friday, she was cooking pancakes. Pancakes were one of his favorites, which meant that he had been right in assuming it was Willow who had set his alarm so early. She probably figured that he wouldn't bitch as much if she made him pancakes. She was in for a big surprise. He wasn't going to say a word about the alarm, but she'd better be alert because he was definitely going to think of a way to get some well-deserved revenge. He began to smile as he walked up the stairs towards the kitchen, deciding that the day might just end up getting better after all.

********************

"What's the major export of Ghazastano?"

Spike entered the kitchen as Dawn spoke, his lips twisting into a frown when he looked at the table and didn't see the pancakes that he'd expected. Willow was eating a bowl of cereal while reading the paper and Dawn appeared to be doing homework. His cross mood returned immediately as his arms crossed in front of his chest and he glared at the empty table.

"I've never even heard of Ghazaston, Dawn," Willow told the teen before asking, "Isn't the answer in your book?"

"Well, yeah, probably, but that would mean that I had to read it all to find it and it's much easier to not read," Dawn replied as she looked up from the last question remaining on her homework to see Spike standing in the doorway that led down to his room. She smiled at the vampire, asking, "Spike, what's the major export of Ghazastano?"

"Spike?" Willow looked up from her paper, her green eyes surprised as she looked from Spike to the clock and back again. She gave him a shy smile as she said, "Good morning, Spike. You're up early today."

"You're up early today," Spike mimicked rudely, turning his glare from the table to the redheaded witch that was responsible for his not being in bed sleeping at such a ridiculously early hour of the day. He snorted when he saw her innocent expression, saying, "As if you don't know why, Red."

"Rude much?" Dawn asked with a frown, watching as Willow flinched from Spike's words, her smile fading as she looked back down at the paper. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Spike, and said sweetly, "It sounds like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today. Maybe you should go back to bed and try getting up on the right side."

"Well, now, that would be a great idea if I wasn't already wide awake. But, you see Niblet, it's hard to go back to sleep when you're woken up by some annoying song playing on the radio," Spike told the teen as he pulled out a chair and sat down, his legs kicking Willow's chair deliberately.

"What annoying song?" Dawn asked innocently.

"I don't know!" Spike groaned, "Something about walking on sunshine. It was silly and annoying and you're missing the entire point of my story."

"Walking on Sunshine is a great song," Dawn defended automatically, humming a bit of the tune, trying not to smile as she saw how annoyed Spike was getting. Good. He deserved to be annoyed, she decided, being rude to Willow like that.

"No, it isn't," Spike argued, "it was chirpy and perky and silly. Plus, it was even more irritating because it was playing on my radio before seven in the morning!"

"If you don't like it, why did you have it playing on your radio then?" Dawn asked sweetly, noticing that Willow was trying not to smile as Spike got more and more annoyed.

"I didn't have it playing on my radio!" Spike said sharply, wishing she'd quit asking stupid questions so that he could glare at Willow and make sure the redhead knew that he wasn't happy about her prank.

"Whatever," Dawn muttered as she got up and removed her pancakes from the microwave. She fixed her plate and sat back down, pouring syrup over them before turning back to her book. She decided it was probably better to stop pestering Spike before he started to growl. Besides that, she needed to finish her homework before she left for school.

"I knew I smelled pancakes!" Spike said triumphantly, glad to know that he hadn't been imagining things. His conversation with Dawn was forgotten as he looked at the pancakes, studying them for a second before saying, "Those aren't Red's pancakes."

"Willow bought me some frozen breakfast meals so I could have something different before school," Dawn informed him as she flipped through her chapter.

"I can make you one of them, if you want," Willow told Spike, not sure why he was being so rude but figuring he might just be having one of those days where everything sucked. Since she had those days, herself, she could forgive his attitude easily. She was pretty sure that Dawn hadn't helped his mood, either. Besides, after sharing a house with the vampire for over half a year, she'd become accustomed to most of his moods. True, he wasn't usually mean to her or Dawn, but she guessed that he was just snapping at whomever was around. Lucky them, she thought with a grimace.

********************

"They don't look good," Spike remarked as he studied the flat pancakes that Dawn was eating. Making a face, he added, "I don't want those."

"They taste okay," Dawn said, rolling her eyes as she saw him making a face at her pancakes. "They're frozen, Spike. They wouldn't look exactly like homemade pancakes."

"Red's pancakes smell better," Spike scowled, "they taste better and look better. I don't want some frozen flat pancakes."

"I'll make you pancakes tomorrow, Spike," Willow said with a small smile, pleased by his complimentary words.

"Tomorrow? But, I want pancakes now," Spike glanced at her, deciding that it was the least she could do, since her little trick with the alarm had woken him up so early. He'd smelled the pancakes and gotten the craving for a stack of Red's golden brown pancakes with syrup pouring off the sides. A plate of pancakes, plenty of syrup, a glass of blood to wash them down, and his day might finally get a little better.

"Spike, it's Friday," Willow reminded, trying not to smile as he pouted like a spoiled child. There were times that Spike did not act at all like the hundred plus years old vampire that he was, this seemingly being one of them. Only Spike could make something as childish as pouting so sexy and gorgeous, she decided.

"Your point?" he asked with an arched brow.

"Breakfast is only cooked on weekends. Weekdays are cereal and toast or microwave meals," Dawn told Spike, her eyes moving back and forth between Willow and Spike.

"I want pancakes, Red," Spike told Willow, leaning back in his chair as he waited for her response.

"I can make you one of the microwave things, Spike, but I don't have time to cook pancakes right now," Willow said, wishing that he wasn't so damn stubborn and difficult. She added, "I have to take Dawn to school and then I told Anya I'd help her do inventory at the store. After that, we're meeting Buffy and Xander for lunch and probably going back to the store to finish inventory. I don't have time to make pancakes today, but I'll make them tomorrow."

"Oh, so you don't have time for me, but you've got time for the slayer and the others," Spike said, his eyes narrowing, "it's your fault I'm awake right now, Red. You owe me, don't you think?"

"Wool," Dawn spoke up, shutting her book and smiling at Willow.

"Wool what?" Willow asked, thankful for the interruption. She didn't know why Spike was blaming her for him being awake or why he seemed to think she owed him, but she'd been about ready to forget that he was in a mood and tell him exactly where he could stick his pancakes.

"Wool is the leading export of Ghazastano," Dawn explained as she finished her breakfast and tossed it in the trash. She told the redhead, "I'm ready to go to school now."

"Okay," Willow nodded, "get your stuff together while I clean up the table. We'll leave in a minute."

"What about me?" Spike demanded after Dawn left the kitchen, his lips twisting into a frown as he saw Willow getting ready to leave.

"Spike, I don't want to argue with you. Just because you're having a bad day, well, it doesn't give you the right to be mean and rude," Willow said as she washed out her cereal bowl. She looked at him and saw that he was glaring at her again. She sighed, running a hand through her red hair before she suggested, "If you want pancakes, you can heat up one of the frozen meals. And if you don't stop glaring at me like that, I won't make you pancakes tomorrow."

"That's not fair," Spike said, "you fixed my alarm and woke me up this early. Now, you're not going to fix me pancakes. No, you're running off to do some stupid inventory and to hang out with the slayer and the moron and the slut, leaving me here alone without even any pancakes to eat!"

"Your alarm? What are you talking about?" Willow asked, feeling a headache starting to come on. She shook her head, "Never mind. Spike, I didn't do anything to your alarm. If you don't want to be up this early, go back to bed. You're always so damn cranky if you don't get at least five hours sleep. I've got to go now. I'll see you later, and, hopefully, you'll be in a better mood because, if you're not, I may have to smack you!"

"I am not cranky!" Spike denied, glaring at her even more. She not only wasn't going to make him pancakes, but she was claiming she hadn't played the prank with his alarm and now she was leaving him alone. There wasn't anything good on the telly this early and he knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

"Sure you aren't," Willow agreed, though she rolled her eyes as she spoke. Finally, she said, "I've got to go, Spike. Dawn's ready. Go get some extra sleep. I'll see you later. Bye."

He didn't have time to make a witty comeback before she was walking outside with Dawn, talking to the teen about school. He growled, "Bloody hell!" to the empty kitchen before he sat back down and glared at the table. First, his alarm had gone off too early. Then, he'd only had cold water in his shower. He hadn't gotten his pancakes, and now he was alone for the remainder of the day. Overall, he decided crossly, today sucks.

********************

He was bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored.

Spike flipped through the channels again, going so fast that he didn't even really see what was playing on any of the stations. He knew there wasn't anything worth watching on so he didn't bother actually trying to find something to entertain him. That would have been too easy. Find a program that engaged his interest, sit back and let the time pass by quickly. That's how he usually spent his afternoons. Today wasn't a typical day, though, he thought as he scowled at the TV.

He wasn't really all that angry about waking up so early, often getting up on his own to join Dawn and Willow for an early breakfast before going back downstairs to catch a short nap when they went to school. Waking up early today had not been his choice and that's why he was pissed off. Well, the whole alarm thing mixed with everything else was why he was now glaring at the television. He couldn't believe Red hadn't made him pancakes. Sure, he knew it was a Friday and that she had to take Dawn to school, but most Fridays Willow would come back home and spend the day around the house.

Fridays were the days he usually did try to wake up earlier than normal. He liked to be upstairs when she got back from dropping Dawn off at school. He'd help her complete any chores she needed to finish. Then, they'd sit and watch stupid talk shows or cartoons or re-runs of old sitcoms, talking and laughing and just enjoying the day. They'd have lunch together, just the two of them with no interruptions from the slayer or the moron or the slut, who were always working on Fridays. It was the one day of the week that he got Willow to himself for a few hours, the one day he looked forward to throughout the week, the day he could just hang out with a friend and enjoy being lazy.

Spike leaned his head back against the couch, turning his glare from the television to the ceiling overhead. He couldn't believe Willow had made plans on their Friday. Maybe she was getting tired of him, his blue eyes narrowing as he wondered if that was why she'd agreed to help Anya with the stupid inventory rather than staying home with him. He didn't like that idea at all. She was his only friend, the person he could always talk to about his past and his mistakes and his thoughts. She talked to him, too, telling him things that he'd bet a pretty penny none of her other silly little friends knew. No, she wasn't tired of him, he decided. Anya had needed help with the inventory and Red was just too nice to tell the former demon to fuck off. That's why she wasn't there with him watching talk shows. Being alone on the day that he was used to being with his only friend without having to share her with everyone else. Just another reason that today sucked, he finally decided.

Willow had denied setting his alarm when he'd accused her, seemed to have no idea what he was talking about, but it was definitely a Willow type of prank. He'd expected her to smile and tease him about it when he'd gone into the kitchen, planning to make her feel a little guilty before forgiving her while all along planning retribution of some sort. Instead, she'd denied being responsible and then called him cranky and told him to get some sleep. He wasn't cranky, damn it. And, if he was slightly cranky, who could blame him? His Friday had been ruined from the moment he woke up to the tune of Walking on Sunshine. He'd planned to spend the morning in bed, pretending that it was any other weekday. Now, though, he was stuck flipping through the channels, unable to find anything to entertain him, and he didn't even really know who to blame.

No, that wasn't really true. He knew that he could blame Willow for the bad day he was having. It was her fault because she wasn't there and he was alone. Spike got off the couch and went into the kitchen. He tossed a bag of blood into the microwave and got his cup out of the cabinet. He didn't even feel like making anything to snack on, deciding to just have his blood and then maybe try to take a nap or something. Sleep away the rest of this horrible afternoon until dusk. Once the sun set, he'd head out to the magic store. The gang always had dinner together on Friday nights, placing the weekly call to the watcher in London and then usually going on a patrol. Often after patrol, they'd all go to a movie or the Bronze and just hang out. He was a reluctant participant, as he made sure to vocalize every Friday night. It wasn't like he actually enjoyed being around any of them, only attending because Dawn and Willow wanted him there. He'd do just about anything for his girls, even spend time with the moron and the slayer.

He was lost in thought when he heard a weird noise. Turning his head, he looked at the microwave. "Fucking great," he cursed when he saw that the bag of blood had exploded in the microwave. He hit the stop button, noticing that he'd set the time too high. He cursed again as he opened the door, grimacing as he saw the mess that had been made. He'd been so busy thinking about Willow and her prank and his bad day that he must have hit the wrong time. Great, just great, he groaned as he grabbed a towel from the cabinet. He began cleaning up the mess, his lips twisted into a scowl, his blue eyes flashing with annoyance.

Once he was finished cleaning, he tossed the towel into the trash, knowing it was useless to try to wash it. He put another bag into the microwave, watching carefully as he typed in the correct time. He moved to sit on the cabinet to wait for the blood to heat, again thinking about how horrible his day was going. After he fed, he'd go downstairs and lay down. Hell, he'd pull the covers over his head and stay there until dusk, he decided. He ran his hand through his hair as he watched the numbers on the microwave, sighing as he acknowledged something that was helping make the day horrible. He missed Willow.

********************

Spike had gone to his room after he had fed, undressing and sliding under the covers as he'd made himself comfortable, planning to take a brief nap to pass the hours before dusk. That had been his intention. Unfortunately, he couldn't sleep. He wasn't tired at all. If anything, his mind was too active. He was tossing and turning and growling as he pulled the covers in this direction and then that direction. He moved his pillow numerous times, unable to get it into a position that was comfortable. Finally, he gave up. He opened his eyes and pushed the covers down. He laid on his bed for a while, just thinking about his horrible day.

Spike got out of bed finally, pulling his jeans on before walking upstairs. Blue eyes looked at the clock, a groan coming from his lips when he saw how early it was. He had hoped that it was at least time for Dawn to get out of school. He was bored and chatting with the talkative teen tended to pass time pretty quickly. She was his second favorite person to talk to, not that he really had to talk when having a conversation with Dawn. Mostly, he sat there and listened to her talk and made a comment every now and then. It wasn't like talking to Willow. With the redhead, he was expected to contribute equally in discussions. They had talked about every subject imaginable, from the silly to the serious. He loved talking to her, happily spending hours at a time arguing and debating and discussing a vast variety of topics with the witch. He should have been sitting on the sofa beside her right now, talking about whatever program they'd have playing on the telly rather than roaming around the empty house bored out of his mind.

He laid on the sofa, his hand scratching his stomach as he put a pillow behind his head and stared at the ceiling. He was still bored and he'd exhausted most of his choices. He'd tried watching television, tried taking a nap, even tried reading. Nothing caught his attention. He was restless, unable to concentrate on anything, wishing that Willow was home with him. He sighed as he looked at the clock again. Great. Two minutes had passed since he'd come upstairs. What to do...what to do. There wasn't anything. Hell, he'd even done his laundry the day before so he couldn't waste time doing that. He should have gone to the store with Red and helped do the damn inventory, he decided. At least then he'd have been busy and had someone to talk to. He wouldn't have been stuck alone on their day with nothing to do.

Spike slowly smiled as he thought about that idea. He sat up and reached for the phone, dialing a number and waiting for a response.

"Hullo?"

"Clem, it's Spike. Can you give me a lift somewhere?" Spike asked. He hated not having a car, usually able to borrow Willow's when she wasn't using it or sometimes using the slayer's, but today both girls had driven, which left him to call in a favor.

"Hiya Spike. A lift? Sure. Where do you want to go?" Clem asked.

"You can drop me off at the magic store. I'm gonna help them finish their little inventory," Spike said, liking this new plan of action. With his help, the inventory would get finished and then maybe he and Willow could come home and finish their day before Dawn and Buffy got home and he had to share her. It would be another week before he had her all to himself, so maybe he'd at least get an hour or two to spend with the redhead.

"I can pick you up in a few minutes. Are you ready?" Clem asked as he moved to put his shoes on without dropping the phone. He had to admit that he was a bit surprised by Spike's call, knowing his friend was reluctant to ask anyone for anything. He assumed helping with this inventory must be pretty important to the vampire since Spike had asked for a favor so he'd do his best to get the blond to the store as quick as possible.

"I'll be ready by the time you get here," Spike said, "Thanks, Clem."

"Not a problem. I was just sitting around watching Oprah re-runs so it will be nice to get out of the house for a minute," Clem said before hanging up.

Spike went downstairs and pulled on his shirt. He put on his boots and grabbed his duster before walking back upstairs. A smile was on his face as he sat down to wait for Clem. He wasn't overly fond of Anya, the blunt ex-demon having a tendency to get on his nerves, but he liked her more than the others because he respected her. He could definitely put up with her long enough to help Red finish the inventory. Remembering their conversation that morning, he wondered if Willow was still annoyed with him. She'd called him cranky and denied setting his alarm as a prank, plus she hadn't made him pancakes or cancelled her plans to help Anya in order to spend their day with him. Okay, so he might have been a bit difficult this morning, but it was her fault because she'd fixed the alarm so he didn't see why she'd gotten so annoyed.

She'd probably felt guilty, he finally decided. She'd set the alarm last night on a whim and then felt guilty this morning when she realized that she'd woken him up so early. His mood hadn't helped encourage her to be honest, he knew. He'd been angry at waking up to that annoying song and then not having any hot water in his shower. He'd also been expecting pancakes only to find a microwave meal. So, yeah, he had been a bit testy with her. He was having a horrible, awful day and had snapped at Willow, blaming her for everything though she was only responsible for the alarm really. Helping with the damn inventory could be his way of apologizing without having to say the words or admit partial responsibility for their argument. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a car horn outside.

Spike went to the door, making sure that it was Clem honking and not some neighbor. Seeing his friend driving, he grabbed his keys and locked the front door. Pulling his coat over him for protection, he ran to the waiting car. Getting inside, he told Clem, "You can just drop me off in the alley behind the store. I'll go in the back way and surprise Red."

********************

Spike covered his head with his duster when Clem pulled the car to a stop by the alley. He mumbled a thanks to his friend before opening the car door and dashing into the covered alley way. Letting his duster fall back into place, the blond vampire's lips curved into a pleased smile. He couldn't wait to see Red's face when she saw him. He just knew that she'd be surprised and then happy that he'd gone to so much trouble in order to help her finish the stupid inventory. Their earlier argument faded from his mind as he walked to the back door. He was willing to forgive and forget about the alarm trick, finding it rather unsettling to be fighting with his redhead. Sure, he'd like to get her to admit to the prank and he did have plans to get her back some time in the near future, but he wouldn't push it right now. He'd much rather have her smiling at him than scowling at him.

He entered the Magic Box quietly, wanting to sneak up on her and maybe cause her to jump. He couldn't resist the idea of scaring her just a bit. He took off his duster, tossing it on the table in the back room on his way to the front of the store. A smirk crossed his handsome face as he crept into the main area of the store. His blue eyes were searching the room for Willow, ready to sneak up behind her and perhaps say boo. The smirk faded from his face as he saw nothing except merchandise and an empty store. Okay, not entirely empty, he scowled as he saw Anya behind the register writing in a book. Where was Willow? He growled softly as he again looked around the room, not hearing but one heartbeat and knowing that she wasn't in the store, but needing to see for himself that she was not there.

"Hey Spike," Anya said as she heard a noise, looking up from the many columns of numbers in front of her before looking back down. Suddenly, she looked back up, her eyes narrowing as she said, "Spike? What are you doing here?"

"Where's Red?" Spike asked as he moved to the table that was used during their research sessions. He saw a notebook with Willow's handwriting as well as computer print outs listing merchandise and quantities on hand. She'd been there, at least, so she hadn't lied about helping with inventory. If she'd finished inventory already, she should have been home, spending the remainder of their day with him. Spike had noticed her car outside, though, so he knew she wasn't at home waiting for him. He was getting more angry the longer Anya didn't answer his question. Here he'd gone to the trouble of asking Clem for a ride to the store, and he hated asking for favors, just so he could surprise Willow and spend a little of their Friday with her, and help finish the damn inventory and he arrives to find her nowhere in the store. How was she doing inventory if she was gone?

"Willow went to get us some coffee. There's a cute boy that works at the Espresso Pump that always flirts with her and gives her free items, so I sent her in hopes we'd get something free," Anya replied finally, a thoughtful look in her eyes as she tried to figure out what Spike was doing at the store so early. Willow had mentioned earlier that the blond vampire had woken up early and had been in a bad mood, growling and whining even more than normal. Now, said vampire was at the store during sunlight hours and he appeared to still be in a bad mood. She'd heard growling and seen anger flash in his blue eyes. Anya had to admit that he wore 'angry growly vampire' well, looking every bit as attractive as normal.

"She's off flirting with some coffee guy?" Spike asked sharply.

"Willow doesn't usually flirt back, even though the guy is pretty cute. I've told her flirting back might mean more free items, but she never listens to me," Anya replied. She then repeated her earlier question, "Why are you here, Spike?"

"Well, isn't that perfect? I've had the worst day I've had in longer than I can remember and she's off flirting with some pretty boy at the coffee place. Claims she's helping with inventory while, all along, she's sneaking off to get free things from the flirting boy," Spike muttered as he began to pace, tension radiating off him as he began to get more and more upset. He couldn't believe that she was flirting with some man when she was supposed to be finishing the inventory. True, they'd argued that morning, but he'd expected to find her trying to finish quickly so she could return home and spend the rest of their day with him. Hell, he'd expected to surprise her and get one of those special Willow smiles from her that always made him feel happy for causing them, and then help her finish the damn inventory so they could have a couple of hours to just hang out and talk before the slayer got off work and Niblet returned home from school. And she had to ruin his surprise by being off flirting with some stupid guy instead of trying to finish her work so she could spend time with him. Who was this guy, anyway? Spike needed to find out so he could go pay him a visit, let the wanker know that Red was off limits and unavailable for flirting and that there would be no more free items of any kind.

"What's your problem?" Anya asked as she watched him pace, listening to him muttering to himself. Suddenly, she sat back, a slow smile crossing her pretty face as the puzzle pieces began to fit together. Spike was jealous. Not only was he jealous, but he was all growly and angry and, poor Willow. Oh, boy, this was going to be fun, she decided.

"Shut up, Demon," Spike snarled as he continued to pace, wishing that he'd never bothered to get out of bed that morning. It was the worst day ever. He'd thought it might get better when he found Willow, a smile from her and then just spending time with his friend. Instead, he'd found her off flirting with some other guy on *their* day! It was a terrible, awful, very bad, horrible day! He'd have been happy to come up with other suitable adjectives to describe the day he was having but he didn't get a chance. He heard the door open and felt Willow's presence even before she spoke. Her lovely scent was mixed with the aroma of coffee. Coffee! He turned around, eyes blazing as he wondered what free items she'd received from the coffee guy this time!

"Ex-demon," Anya corrected automatically, trying to keep the amusement from her voice as she watched his rather childish display. She heard the door open and saw Willow, wondering if it was the leftover demon in her that was gleefully rubbing her hands together in anticipation of the fireworks that were surely to occur now that the redhead was back and Spike had paced and muttered and growled himself into 'sexy but snarling vampire'.

"Hey, An," Willow smiled at her friend as she entered the Magic Box, "sorry it took so long, but Flirty Boy was being particularly annoying today. Oh, there are a couple of pastries in the sack. Got them free which is only fair after having to deal with that guy for the last ten minutes."

"Pastries? Yum," Anya said as she grabbed the bag from the pretty redhead. "I like Flirty Coffee Boy when he's handing out free stuff."

"Good, because, next time, you're going to get the coffee," Willow said, rolling her eyes as she put the cups on the counter. She took her cup and turned to head back to the table with her inventory notes when she noticed Spike leaning against the table and glaring at her. Her eyes widened in surprise as she asked, "Spike, what are you doing here?"

********************

Anya snorted when she heard Willow's question, muttering, "Good luck getting an answer to that one, Willow. I've been asking him that since he first showed up!"

Spike ignored the demon and focused on Willow. His redhead was looking all confused and innocent, just like she had that morning. He didn't let it affect his anger and annoyance, having worked himself into a pretty ticked off mood by the time she'd come back to the store. All he wanted to do at that moment was fight and, since it was definitely too early to go beat up a couple dozen of demons to work through his anger and frustration, he would have to settle with verbally sparring with his favorite opponent. He arched a brow as he snarled, "Where have you been?"

"Um, coffee?" Willow said as she held up her cup, not understanding what Spike was doing at the store during the middle of day or why he seemed to be so angry. Sure, he'd been cranky that morning, but she had assumed that he'd just woken up on the wrong side of the bed, like she did sometimes. She'd figured that he'd be fine if he took a nap, something she had thought he'd do once she was gone and he had the house to himself. To say she'd been surprised to find him at the Magic Box when she'd returned from getting coffee was an understatement. Under different circumstances, she'd have been thrilled to find him waiting for her. Willow shook her head slightly, pushing those thoughts out of her mind. Now was not the time to think about her feelings for the gorgeous blond vampire that was currently glaring at her and raring to fight. Goodness, he was sexy when he was angry.

"I thought you were doing inventory today," Spike reminded sharply, "Imagine my surprise when I get here and find you off flirting with some waiter instead of working on the all-important inventory."

"I *am* doing inventory," Willow defended, "and I wasn't off flirting with some waiter. Spike, it's been a long day and I've got more work to do. Why are you here?"

"Were too off flirting with the waiter," Spike protested, his eyes flashing, "Demon girl said so, plus free pastries! I doubt he'd be giving away pastries if you weren't flirting back, Red."

"Ex-demon girl," Anya spoke up, her eyes amused as she looked back and forth between Willow and Spike, wishing she could bottle the sexual tension between the two. The entire room was getting warmer the more they argued, and she couldn't remember ever seeing such passion in Willow's eyes or such yummy desire in Spike's eyes. Oh, maybe they'd finally kiss, and she'd have a front row seat. She nibbled on her muffin and continued to watch the show, ignoring her inventory sheets and giving the fireworks between the redheaded witch and the blond vampire her full attention.

"I was not flirting back!" Willow denied as she put her hands on her hips.

"You definitely weren't sitting here trying to finish the inventory so you could come home!" Spike growled, glaring at the redhead.

"It's called a break, Spike," Willow said, wondering how she could be so mad at him and still want nothing more than to walk into his arms and kiss him and push him against that table he was leaning against and get rid of his clothes and...she stopped her thoughts when she got to naked Spike. Stop it, Willow, she scolded mentally. There was no way that she found his childish behavior sexy. Nope, not at all. His angry, growling display did nothing at all to her hormones. There was not a chance in Hades that she found his pouting and 'demon girl said so' comments arousing. And there was definitely no way that she was wishing he'd stop arguing with her and tell her he loved her and kiss her and shag her and...okay, again with the naked Spike thoughts.

"A break?" Spike repeated with a snort, completely oblivious to Willow's reaction to their argument. He was so intent in expressing his disgust over his bad day and his anger at not finding her at the store that he didn't see the green eyes looking at him with a mixture of love and lust even as the redhead argued mentally with herself that she needed to stop thinking about loving and wanting Spike because it was rather obvious that he just considered her a friend and nothing else.

"Yes, a break," Willow sighed as she rubbed her temples. She was getting a headache, wondering if Anya had any Tylenol. She usually loved to argue with Spike, finding the experience enjoyable and arousing. He was one of the most intelligent people she'd ever met, and she could happily spend hours talking to him and debating on a variety of subjects. This, though, wasn't their usual good-natured arguing. This was him snapping at her for reasons only he knew, but she assumed stemmed from the fact that he was still cranky after waking up so early. Spike was an enigma on a good day, a complex puzzle that no one could ever hope of solving on a bad day. This was decidedly one of the bad days and she didn't know if she had the energy to even bother trying to figure out what his problem was and how come he felt the need to take it on her. She sighed again, giving him an annoyed look, "I don't know why you're here, but I've got work to do. I want to finish this inventory and get the numbers put in the computer before the gang gets here after school and work. I don't have time to stand here and argue with you just because you're having a bad day or are in a bad mood or whatever issues you're having. If you're going to stay, let me work!"

"Would have had more done if you hadn't run off to flirt with the coffee boy," Spike reminded sharply, wishing again that he had a couple dozen demons to beat up. Fighting with Willow had been as exhilarating as normal, but he still felt restless. He watched her rub her head, recognizing the action as something she did when she had a headache. He felt just a slight, very slight, bit of guilt before he pushed it away and continued to attack, "If this inventory is so bloody important, you should have had your cute little arse here working instead of doing who knows what to get free pastries!"

********************

"I'm going to get back to work now, Spike," Willow decided as she moved towards the table, ready to do her best to ignore him and get her work finished. Ignore Spike? Ha, yeah, like she could really see that one happening.

"What?" he looked at her with surprise, frowning when he realized that she wasn't going to argue with him anymore. He'd been enjoying himself, arguing with Willow being near the top of his list of favorite things. Talking to her and just being with her were also at the top of that list, but he was more in the mood to argue today. It was her own bloody fault, after all, with her silly alarm prank. He'd come to the store intending to help her, to see her smile and surprise her by helping finish the inventory. It wasn't his fault that she hadn't been there ready to be surprised, and it wasn't his fault she'd been off flirting with some other man so she could get free pastries, and it certainly wasn't his fault that she'd scheduled this stupid inventory on *their* day together! He watched her move to the table he was leaning against and retrieve her notebook. Silly girl was trying to ignore him, he realized. His eyes flashed as he saw her flip through her book to a clean page. He didn't like being ignored. Hated it, in fact. Especially when it was his redhead doing the ignoring. His lips twisted into a smirk as he reached over and took the notebook from her.

"Spike! Give me that back," Willow demanded as she looked at him, her eyes widening slightly when she saw the sexy smirk on his lips and the playful look in his blue eyes.

"Tell me you're sorry," he said in response, the anger fading slightly as he looked into her beautiful green eyes.

"For what?" she asked, a slight smile crossing her lips as he held the notebook high over her head. She really didn't understand Spike, the blond being the most unpredictable person she'd ever met, but she had to admit it was one of his more attractive qualities. She knew that she probably knew him better than anyone else did, except maybe Dru or Angel, but she honestly thought she knew Spike, the real Spike, even better than they did. Knowing him, recognizing his moods, knowing the bits of himself he shared with her, well, he was still complex and unpredictable. Like now, for instance. He'd been seething with anger, glaring and growling and snapping at her from the moment she'd come into the store, but not even a minute later he was smirking at her and had a playful and amused look in his blue eyes. Goodness, all she needed to do was move just that much and her body would be flush against his, her lips pressed against his.

"For working on a Friday," he said quietly, his eyes looking deep into hers. He was confused by what he saw in her eyes, lowering the notebook as he tried to figure out what he was seeing.

"I'm sorry for working on our day," Willow whispered softly, suddenly understanding that he was upset because she hadn't been home. She had agreed to help Anya with the inventory, not even realizing it was a Friday until she'd already promised. She had figured that Spike wouldn't care, having assumed their day together meant far more to her than it did to him. After all, they usually just spent the day doing chores and watching television and talking. She hadn't even known that he had acknowledged Fridays as being their day, that he was aware they had set up a routine of sorts, that it meant anything at all to him. Now, though, looking into his eyes, she realized that she had been wrong. So very wrong.

"Don't let it happen again," he warned softly, his eyes narrowing as he realized that he wanted to touch her face. Touch her face? Ha, he was resisting the urge to pull her into his arms and claim her lips and shag her until she was too exhausted to move. He dropped the notebook on the table as he stood, moving away from her, his eyes confused and thoughtful as he ran a hand through his blond hair. This wasn't right. Willow was his best friend, his only friend. He could not be standing there wanting nothing more than to sink deep inside her tight warmth and hold her against him for an eternity or two. No way. This was Willow. He shouldn't be having thoughts like that about Willow.

"Spike, are you okay?" Willow asked with a puzzled _expression on her face as she watched him start to pace and shake his head as he muttered to himself.

"Thought you had inventory to do, luv," he reminded sharply.

"And we're back to cranky Spike," Willow muttered with a frown before she turned away from him and went back to doing the inventory.

Spike continued to pace, trying to figure out what was happening. He shouldn't want to kiss Willow. God, the day just kept getting worse, he growled. Now, on top of everything else that had happened, he had to go and think about kissing his redhead, shagging her, claiming her. Horrible, awful, terrible day, he glared at the wall as he walked around the room, the feelings about his bad day fading as he gradually became lost in thought. He began to think back over the last couple of years, glancing at Willow after she looked away from him. Fuck, it hadn't started today, he realized. He'd always felt something for the pretty little witch, enjoyed being around her, liked having her smile her special smiles for him, knew she was the only friend he'd ever had. He'd told her things that he'd never spoken to anyone about before, good and bad, and she'd never judged him. She accepted him, man and demon, called him friend and trusted him. So, yeah, maybe his mixed up feelings for her had started before today.

And there had been some dreams, he had to admit. Naked flesh against flesh, her begging him for more, lips torn by desire, eyes clouded over with passion and love, waking up aroused and aching and needy, wish she were in his bed and in his arms. Yeah, there had definitely been some dreams, but he'd had not given them much thought, except when she'd lean against him and he'd smell her sweet scent and maybe he'd thought of them when she'd fall asleep in his arms and they might have come to mind occasionally when he'd watch her smile and laugh and argue with him...Bloody hell, he stopped pacing for a moment as he finally understood. He wanted Willow. No, that wasn't exactly right. He wanted her, sure, but it was more than that. He began to pace again, wondering when it had happened and what he was supposed to do about it and if she felt the same way and why the knowledge scared him at the same time he was resisting the urge to climb on top of the table and tell the world how he felt. You see, somewhere over the last few years, he'd fallen in love with Willow.

Anya let out a disappointed sigh, having hoped to see at least a kiss. There had been a moment when she thought she might, when they'd been talking too quietly for her to hear. She'd seen Spike lean forward a bit as if he was going to kiss the redhead, but, instead, the stupid damn gorgeous vampire had gotten to his feet and started snarling again. Of course, she had been around long enough to know that something was changing between those two. The attraction and love they felt for each other that had been pretty evident to everyone else, heck Buffy had even noticed and the selfish slayer was so not the brightest bulb in the bunch, was finally getting to the point where they could no longer ignore the truth.

Okay, so Willow seemed completely comfortable with her crush, though the redhead would probably have hysterics if she was aware that her friends had noticed said crush and had spent many an hour discussing the relationship between her and Spike. While Willow seemed to realize that she had feelings for Spike, the blond vampire didn't seem to have any idea that he was in love with Willow. Oh, Anya had no doubt that he loved and wanted her friend, again with the thousand plus years of observation, but he was either too scared or just too stupid to realize what he was feeling. Today, though, something had been different between them. There had been fireworks, though those of the non-physical variety, but, still, fireworks! And there had been the almost kiss and Spike was now pacing around like a caged lion while stealing glances at Willow, a confused _expression on his face. Anya started to smile as she realized that maybe, just maybe, Spike had finally opened his eyes and realized that he loved the pretty redhead.

********************

It was all her fault.

That was Spike's final determination after he spent half an hour pacing and thinking. Okay, so he'd been blaming most of his misfortune that day on Willow, but this time it really was her fault. He could argue a convincing case to anyone that dared question his decision to blame it all on her. It was truly her fault this time. No doubts at all in his mind. Willow was the cause of his latest problem and the reason he was confused and uncertain and hopeful and just a little bit scared.

Willow was just too smart, too sexy, too nice, too beautiful, too caring. Her smiles were too bright and too wide. Her eyes were too green and too expressive. Her lips were just too kissable and too tempting. She was too trusting, too sweet, too beautiful, he frowned as he wondered if he hadn't already mentioned that one. She was too forgiving, way too forgiving, having not only forgiven him for being an evil sadistic vampire that had tried to kill her repeatedly but also forgiving her silly little friends all the time for taking her for granted and neglecting her when something else came along. She was too damn sexy, and Spike didn't care that he *had* thought of that one previously. She was gorgeous, with that soft, vivid red hair flowing past her shoulders and just too easily imagined laying against his bare chest, his nipples hardening slightly as he was practically able to feel the soft strands of her red hair brushing over his chest as she smiled that sexy smile at him before leaning down and kissing...he groaned, looking away from the tempting sight before he did something really stupid, like push her against the table and take her right there in the middle of the damn Magic Box.

It was all her fault! She was just too...everything. How was he expected to resist her? Even her quirks were cute. Her tendency to babble when she was nervous, the way she chewed on her bottom lip when she was thinking, the way she snuggled against him when she was watching television. Why had it taken him so long to realize that he was falling in love with her? And why did his feelings for Willow transcend what he had felt for Drusilla, his lovely sire that had, he could have sworn, been his soulmate, if there really was such a thing for creatures without a soul? With Willow, he felt it all. The attraction and arousal and need and want and affection and love and many other emotions that he couldn't believe he'd been so blind to not see for who knew how long. He'd thought he was in love with Buffy not even a year before, but that hadn't been anything except admiration and a desire to possess.

Willow made him think about things that even his human self would have considered extremely sappy. But, at the same time she made him feel like a romantic poof, he also felt more alive, more like Spike when they were together. She accepted him, the entire him, the demon and the man and the wimpy poet that had once existed. She was his best friend, but she never forgot that he was a vampire. It wasn't that she was scared of him, it was that she was aware that he was strong and powerful and dangerous even with the implant and that she trusted him not to hurt her or her friends. That awareness in her eyes of the demon that he possessed, of the danger and power that the implant did nothing to diminish, that was what made him feel like a true vampire even though he couldn't feed. She made him feel normal, gave him confidence and strength in a way that mattered far more than he'd ever admit.

He'd never been accepted that way before, not as a human and not as a vampire. His mother had loved him, the weak little poet that was worthless in so many ways. When he'd been turned, he'd seen that she couldn't love the new him, not in the way he wanted, cringing as he remembered her turning and subsequent death. As for Drusilla, his sire had cared for him, the sadistic vampire that lived for the bloodshed and the games and the screams. But she had not wanted his romantic words, his affection, his tenderness, his devotion, his love. Willow was different, he could see now as he paced around the store and continued to be lost in thought. She was his best friend. She cared about him, the vampire and the human. With her, he didn't have to be one or the other. He could be himself, as fucked up and complex as he was, and she still smiled at him and called him friend.

He didn't know what to do with such unconditional friendship. He kept repeating friendship in his mind even as he was aching for her to love him with even half the emotion and passion that he was realizing that he felt for her. He couldn't believe that she felt anything for him besides friendship. She was too special, too beautiful...he wasn't worthy of her love, even as he knew he'd get down on his knees to thank every deity he'd ever heard about if she would say the words he so longed to hear. He had always wanted to be loved, that need making him an easy target for Angelus as well as making him have to be twice as cruel, twice as cunning in hopes of that human need fading away. He had thought that it had, having become accustomed to his relationship with Dru and the knowledge that his lovely sire could never give him the love and affection that a part of him had craved. Now, though, he was reminded of his weakness and the need he had tried his best to ignore. If he thought Willow could love him, that she could return his feelings and accept him in her heart and her bed, well, he wouldn't have been that upset about realizing that he was still such a romantic sap about love when you stripped away the big bad vampire bravado. Being a sap wouldn't be all that bad if he had Willow to love and to love him back, but she didn't love him. And now he was aware of his feelings for her and it was making him angry that he felt so bloody helpless and it was all her fault!

He turned to face her, looking at her sit back down and start to count up the numbers she had written down. His eyes narrowed as he glared at her back. How could she sit there at the table counting up numbers when he was lost in confusion and love? Didn't she realize what emotional turmoil he had been experiencing for the last half hour? Did she have no idea that he was having the worst day he could remember having? Did she not care that he had realized that he was in love with her and wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and claim her and hold her for an eternity or two or three? Why couldn't she see how mixed up he was and suddenly know the three little words that he wanted to hear her say that could make it all better? Why did she have to be so beautiful and sexy and smart and lovable? Why couldn't she love him?

Spike growled softly as he moved to the table, his eyes flashing with annoyance and hurt as he grabbed her chair, causing her to look at him with those gorgeous green eyes as he snarled, "This is all your fault!"

********************

"What's all my fault?" Willow asked as she looked up from her final inventory numbers to find Spike glaring at her.

"Everything!" he replied with a soft growl, not able to put his thoughts into words when she looked at him.

"Don't snarl at me!" she said as she rolled her eyes, her hand moving to her temple as she rubbed little circles on her skin in hopes that she would somehow understand what Spike was blaming her for. It didn't work. She was still confused and had no idea why the blond vampire had showed up at the store in the first place or why he had spent the last thirty minutes or so pacing around and growling and muttering to himself or why he was now glaring at her and claiming that everything was her fault.

She had tried to be nice and polite earlier, even when he was accusing her of flirting for free pastries, but she was fast growing exasperated with his behavior. It didn't help that he looked so damn sexy and gorgeous when he was glaring at her. She should have found him anything but sexy when he was yelling and growling at her, but she couldn't stop herself from wanting nothing more than to just kiss him. Bad, bad, bad...she scolded herself as she decided that she was through with being polite and nice and taking whatever he felt like dishing out.

"I will too snarl if I want," he responded, deliberately snarling as he glared at her even more.

"Fine, snarl. I don't care," Willow said back.

"That's rather obvious!" he snarled again, his lips twisting into a pleased smile as he saw her eyes spark with annoyance, knowing that she was going to argue back.

"What's your problem?" she asked as she did a little glaring of her own. "You come to the store and do nothing but argue with me and pace around and act like an immature child! I could have had this inventory finished by now if you weren't doing your best to distract me! Now you're all growly again and blaming me for everything, which is just way too vague an accusation, by the way. So, what is your problem, Spike?"

"It *is* your fault. All of it," he said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the table, giving her his full attention. He continued, "From the stupid alarm trick to planning this stupid inventory on *our* day to flirting with some punk that pours coffee for a living to...well, everything!"

"What stupid alarm trick?" she groaned, "I told you that I have no idea what you're talking about, but, since it's rather obvious that you've decided to blame me no matter what I say, I don't know why I'm even bothering to defend myself! As for the inventory, Anya needed my help. It happened to be a Friday. I told you about it last week and you didn't seem upset and you sure as hell didn't protest so I don't understand why you're so ticked off now. And I did *not* flirt with the coffee guy!"

Spike was furious by the time she finished, his blue eyes sparking with anger and lust as he watched her argue with him, her eyes shining with annoyance and confusion, color entering her cheeks as she got more upset and her voice got louder, her hair surrounding her beautiful face like a halo of fire...his gorgeous little spitfire. Glory, she looked sexy and alluring and he wondered if she'd be as passionate when he took her to his bed and shagged her senseless for hours, days, weeks, months, eternities. He pushed away his arousal for the moment and concentrated on his confusion and his outrage at her denial of responsibility for making him love her. Okay, so he hadn't actually voiced that accusation, but she should have known! They'd been friends for months, she was supposed to know him better than anyone else, so she had to know that he had realized he was in love with her and she was just choosing to ignore it rather than admit she didn't love him and that she'd only made him fall in love with her to ruin the rest of his unlife.

"You know what alarm trick," he answered, "setting the alarm all nice and early. Thought it was funny, huh? I wasn't laughing, pet. I'd intended to spend all day in bed, covers over my head, trying my best to forget that it was Friday and you were off helping the demon bitch instead of sitting on the sofa with me watching the telly. But, no, instead I'm woken up barely past sunrise, and there wasn't any hot water for my shower, and you didn't even make me pancakes! Then I'm stuck roaming around the empty house all alone and my blood exploded in the microwave and it was our day and you should have been there with me. On top of all that, I come here to help you finish, thinking that a couple of hours spent watching telly with you is better than nothing, only to find you off flirting with some other man when you were supposed to be trying to get that damn inventory finished so you could come home!"

********************

By this time, Willow was so annoyed at him blaming her for setting his alarm and acting as if she had control over all the hot water in the house and he'd mentioned the blasted pancakes again, that she was seething and didn't even bother listening to rest of his silly accusations, missing the bit where he was lonely and missing her and also not hearing him explain that he'd come to the store intending to help her because he wanted to be with her and completely missing the jealousy that flashed in his brilliant blue eyes when he mentioned the flirting coffee guy.

Instead, she was clenching her hands into fists and resisting the urge to just slap him, which had replaced the urge of kissing him. And then said image went from slapping to him grabbing her and pulling her against his body and them kissing roughly and clothes being torn off and...anger, Willow, anger...not arousal...save the rest of *that* fantasy to add to the collection that she replayed mentally every night as she lay alone in her bed, her hands caressing her flesh and her body aching to feel him against her. She growled at him, rather proud she'd managed such a good growl, and said, "I did not set your alarm, Spike. I didn't even touch your stupid radio! As for the rest of it, it's not my fault you're having a bad day!"

"Is your fault," he replied with a glare, cursing the instant erection he felt pressing against the denim of his jeans as she growled at him. Glory, if he hadn't been aroused before, he most certainly was now.

"Grow up, Spike! Everyone has a bad day once in a while and it's no one's fault!" she said, rolling her eyes as she watched him glare and pout when she told him to grow up. She held up her hand, cutting off any future argument from him as she said, "I don't have time for anymore of your childish behavior, Spike. I was hoping to get the inventory done before I had to pick up Dawn from school, but that obviously didn't happen. So I am going to leave now and pick her up and then come back here to get it finished. When I get back, you need to have either dealt with your issues and be over this growling mood of yours or you need to just go in the back and take a nap until you're in a better mood!"

"Childish? Me?" he sputtered, his eyes narrowing as he realized that she was really going to leave. But, he wasn't finished yet. He ran a hand through his blond hair as he watched her get her purse, wondering why she didn't see how chaotic his life had become since he had realized that he loved her, wishing she would just look at him and smile and tell him she loved him and then everything could be okay.

He had known she couldn't possibly love him, but a part of him had hoped that he was wrong, that perhaps there was a chance that she did return his feelings, that she did want him and could love him. He had been dreaming, knowing better than to think that Willow would ever love him. She was special, so beautiful and smart and sexy. He could hear the whisper in his head, the knowing and smug voice reminding him that he wasn't good enough for Willow, that he was beneath her, that no one would ever willingly accept his love and reciprocate the emotion. He looked away from Willow, his blue eyes flashing with hurt and disappointment as he stared at the table, his arms tightening around himself as he realized that he'd been a fool for even considering the possibility that Willow saw him as something other than a friend. And now, after his verbal attack, he had probably lost her in that regard, too.

"Childish," Willow repeated as she grabbed her purse and retrieved her car keys. She glanced at Spike and saw that he was sulking, wondering if maybe she'd been a bit too rude. After all, the last time she'd had a really bad day, he'd made her lunch and she'd laid against him as he'd read to her until she felt better. But, she hadn't blamed him for her bad day, and he'd been the one to start arguing with her and he hadn't even let it drop after their brief altercation earlier when she'd arrived back from the Espresso Pump and she thought he was okay before she'd gone back to her inventory and then he'd gone all growly again. She resisted the urge to give him a hug and apologize, knowing that he was to blame as much as she was for their latest argument.

"Sod off, Red," was Spike's mature reply to her comment, his words soft and defeated as he continued to rethink the argument, wondering where it had gone wrong and if she had deliberately ignored his realization of love for her and wishing that this terrible, horrible, God awful day would just end already.

"Fuck you, Spike," was Willow's mature response as she frowned at the tone of his voice, missing the passion and anger and amusement that usually accompanied the curse. She glanced at Anya, smiling sheepishly as she realized that her friend had listened to the entire argument, "Sorry about that, An. I'm gonna pick up Dawn and we'll come back here so I can finish the inventory. Okay?"

"Sure, Willow. See you in a bit," Anya gave her a smile before looking back at Spike and sighing, having resisted the urge to go smack them both for being so darn blind and oblivious and now regretting that she had remained silent to enjoy the show. To be so smart, Willow had to be one of the dumbest people she knew! Those two, so caught up arguing and ignoring what they felt, were just so argh! The fireworks between them had seemed like foreplay, Anya having noticed several heated gazes and arousal was practically visible in the fricking air, but nooooooo, instead of kissing and having wild monkey sex, they'd just managed to end up right where they had started. Alone and miserable and too scared to love!

"Spike," Willow glanced at the blond, annoyed when he continued to look away from her instead of giving her that arrogant smirk that meant everything was okay, finally just throwing her hands in the air as she groaned, "fine, be that way. I certainly hope you're in a better mood when I get back!"

Buffy entered the Magic Box in time to hear Willow's final comment, her hazel eyes narrowing as she watched her best friend storm away from the table and head towards the door. She gave the redhead a curious smile as she said, "Hey, Will. What's up?"

"Spike is acting like an immature moron!" Willow replied, running a hand through her hair as she glared at the blond in question, her eyes worried as he failed to make a rude comment and continued to just stare at the table and ignore her. She sighed softly, not understanding why he wasn't responding in the usual way, having learned his moods after many heated debates and arguments with him. He loved to get the last word, never admitted defeat even when it was clear that he had failed to win, and he was also tossing her that sexy smirk that let her know he admired her for besting him even as he promised that next time he'd win. She shook her head, looking at Buffy and frowning as she said, "I'm going to pick up Dawn. I need to get away from here for a while."

Buffy nodded, watching her best friend leave before looking back at Spike. Okay, it was obvious something had happened and she'd missed it. It was also obvious that Willow was upset and that Spike was the cause of said upsettedness, the slayer frowning as she wondered if that was even a word before deciding that she didn't really care. She moved forward, her tone accusing as she demanded, "What did you do this time, Spike?"

********************

"I didn't do anything, Slayer," Spike grimaced as he glared at the table, not in the mood to deal with Buffy. He couldn't believe Willow had just left, wishing that he'd never bothered coming to the store to help her. If he'd stayed at home, he might not have ever realized that he was in love with the beautiful redhead and everything could have been the same. But, no, he'd had to go and miss her and get the big idea of coming to help her, stupidly believing that she must miss being with him on their day and that she'd appreciate his help in finishing the inventory. Now, nothing was ever going to be the same. And he had no idea what to do about it.

"Oh, please," Buffy snorted, rolling her eyes as she ventured closer to where the blond vampire was sitting. "I know better than that, Spike. Willow was upset and called you a moron so I know you must have done something. Just tell me what so I can decide if I need to smack you or not."

"Try it, Slayer. I dare ya," Spike snarled, turning to glare at her, his blue eyes angry and annoyed that she kept interrupting his mental moping.

Buffy's eyes widened when she realized that Spike was honestly angry. She'd been teasing him originally, finding his and Willow's spats cute. They were really good friends, of that she had no doubt, and they seemed to love to get into heated discussions that tended to warm up whatever room they were in with an electric chemistry that was bordering on fireworks, Anya's word for their desire. She found it amusing that her best friend was so blind to the fact that Spike was into her in a so beyond platonic way at the same time she found it sweet that Spike seemed completely lost to the real feelings he had for Willow. She'd noticed it after Willow had brought her back, not giving it much thought because she'd been having her own problems to deal with at first. After she'd dealt with her issues, though, she'd realized that somewhere along the line Spike and Willow had fallen in love. Strangely enough, she didn't mind at all. While she had never felt anything resembling love for the blond vampire, she thought that he and Willow were perfect together. They fit in a way that just seemed destined, though both of them were so stupid that they wouldn't take a chance and be honest about how they felt. Hell, she didn't even think either of them was aware that they were in love with the other and had pretty much been involved in a relationship for months.

The blonde slayer shook her head slightly, realizing that Spike was still glaring at her, expecting some sarcastic response to his dare. Darn it, she wanted to know what had happened! She'd witnessed numerous debates between those two and never once, even at the loudest arguments, had she seen Willow as flustered and upset or Spike as angry and dangerous. Boy, he definitely wore angry and dangerous well, she decided as she studied him. Majorly sexy studly alert. Hey, she might not have wanted to be involved with him, but she wasn't blind! Spike was gorgeous and, once you got to know him better, a pretty nice guy underneath the arrogant 'Big Bad Vampire' persona he loved to assume. Deciding it would be smarter, Willow would be so proud if she knew Buffy was considering the smarter choice the blonde making a mental note to tell the redhead so she could receive praise at her mature decision, to just respond in her normal way and then try to get him to admit why he was angry and why Willow was upset and why they didn't just get with the shagging already! She gave him a smug smile, replying, "What are you gonna do, Blondie? Threaten me?"

"Might be worth a little headache to knock your ass across the room," Spike responded with a low growl, wishing it was sunset and he could go beat up a few demons.

"You'd have more than a headache to deal with once I got finished with you," Buffy said with a sweet smile, watching him glare at her again before muttering and turning away. He got to his feet and began pacing as Buffy moved to sit on the table. The slayer frowned as she realized that she'd just gotten off work, which meant it was shortly after three, and Spike was already at the Magic Box. What was he doing there? She'd known Willow was there helping with inventory, having had lunch with the redhead and that being the reason she'd headed to the store without going home first. At lunch, Willow had mentioned Spike being up early and being all cranky and whining before she'd left the house. Why was he now at the store being all growly and pissed? And things get more and more interesting, the slayer decided, glancing at Anya and giving her friend a questioning look as she nodded at Spike.

Buffy could see that Anya was dying to tell her something, motioning and trying to get her to understand something. God, she'd always sucked at charades. She didn't get it, finally shaking her head and making a face. She looked back at Spike, asking, "So, Spike, what brings you to the Magic Box so early? You know, risking the pesky sun and all that."

"Don't you ever shut up?" Spike asked as he faced the slayer, wishing again that he'd just stayed home.

"Hmm...let me think about that one..." Buffy's eyes grew thoughtful before she beamed, "Nope, sorry. So, why are you here?"

"He came to help Willow finish inventory," Anya spoke up, thankful to have an opportunity to enter the discussion. She had tried to tell Buffy her suspicions about what was causing Spike to be all surly and growly, but the dumb slayer hadn't understood. The former demon moved from behind the counter, giving Buffy a stare as she stressed Willow's name.

"You came to help Willow?" Buffy smiled, "That's so sweet!"

"Sweet?" Spike spat out the word, his eyes narrowing, "I am not sweet, you silly little bitch."

"Ah, Spike, you always say the nicest things!" Buffy smirked as she watched him clench his fist, resisting a giggle as he just growled and turned away from her and Anya.

"Can this blasted day get any worse?" he muttered.

********************

"Are you having a bad day, Spikey?" Buffy asked, her eyes amused as well as concerned. She had become friends with Spike since she'd returned, strange as that was, and she really did care about him. She thought he was an idiot for not confessing his feelings for Willow, but she could actually understand why he might be scared to admit he was in love with the redhead. Love had never been that kind to the poor guy, oh God had she really just thought of Spike, evil bleached blond vampire that had tried to kill her numerous times and had then driven her practically crazy with his silly crush on her, because it had most definitely not been love which was proven every time she watched him with Willow, as the poor guy?

"Bugger off," he answered as he began to pace again, doing his best to ignore the annoying girls and concentrate on his pathetic life.

"What exactly does that mean?" Buffy asked, "I mean, I know that it's some sort of insult and that you like to use it a lot which means it's probably dirty, but what does it truly mean?"

"Fuck," Anya replied, "I think it's sort of like saying fuck off, only British and not nearly as rude sounding."

"Oh!" Buffy nodded, giving Anya a smile, "I always kind of thought it was something like that, but I never really knew. Okay, then, what's a wanker?"

"This is punishment, isn't it?" Spike asked, glaring from one girl to the other. Did they not understand the emotional turmoil he was going through? He wanted nothing more than to pace and mope over the fact that he loved Willow and she didn't love him back, and to figure out how he was going to deal with loving her while not losing her friendship, and to try to understand why she hadn't understood what he was feeling and why the argument had escalated as it had. Instead, he was stuck listening to these two stupid twits talking about slang. He groaned, looking at the ceiling as he asked, "What did I do to deserve this? The day was bad enough before, but now I'm stuck listening to Slutty and Bitchy discuss wankers!"

"Hey now!" Buffy protested, "I wanted to talk to you about your bad day, because that's what friends do, talk! You're the one that started insulting me with all your naughty sounding British slang!"

"Which one is which?" Anya asked with an amused smile, rather enjoying this side of Spike. He was usually so controlled and detached, even when they were being friendly. He tended to keep to himself, tolerating them but not really liking them much. He liked Willow and Dawn and that was about it. The rest, he put up with, though he had gradually started to at least be reasonably polite. He would laugh once in a while and was very affectionate with Willow and Dawn, but she'd never seen him so confused and, she tried to think of the word, lost?

"What?" he glared at the former demon.

"Slutty and Bitchy...which one is which?" Anya asked.

Buffy snickered, rolling her eyes, "I think I'm Bitchy and you're Slutty."

"Oh, okay," Anya smiled.

"This is Hell, right?" Spike asked suddenly, "Or a nightmare. That's it! I fell asleep on the sofa, didn't I? And all this has been some horrible nightmare."

Buffy moved forward and pinched Spike's arm, moving away before he could retaliate, giving him an innocent smile as he cursed loudly, "You wanted to know if you were dreaming! I was just being helpful."

"Why don't you talk to us, Spike?" Anya asked with a smile. "Tell us about your bad day. You might feel better."

"Yeah, it usually helps to talk. Remember? You told me that after Willow brought me back and I was being all 'selfish push everyone away from me' slayer, and you were right. You might want to write that down because I swear I will deny ever saying that you were right about anything. Anyway, I talked to you and Willow and things did start to get better. So, tell us all about your bad day and maybe it will start to improve."

"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" Spike finally snarled, rolling his eyes as both women smiled at him and shook their heads.

"We wouldn't be very good friends if we left you alone to wallow in misery and growly anger," Buffy said softly.

"We're not friends, you daft bitch," Spike retorted, knowing that there was no way in hell that he was going to tell the slayer and the slut about his horrible, awful, terrible day and there was even less of a chance that he would tell them about his feelings for Willow. That's all he needed, them laughing at him and teasing him and telling him how pathetic he was for loving Willow and how he wasn't good enough for the redhead.

"Willow mentioned something at lunch about an alarm?" Buffy said as she ignored him, knowing that they were friends, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. She wanted to find out why he was being so rude and what he had done to upset Willow and why he was acting even weirder than normal.

"The alarm? Oh, that was how this horrible damn day started! Walking on Sunshine! Yeah, perfect song for a vampire to wake up to, isn't it, luv?" Spike asked with a snort as he fell back into one of the chairs. "I should have known when I heard it to just keep my arse in bed. But, no, I had to get up and this dreadful day started!"

Buffy resisted doing a version of the happy dance when Spike sat down and began to talk, having had serious doubts that she and Anya would bug him enough until he finally opened up and told them why he was in such a bad mood. She wanted him to get to the part that included Willow, but didn't want to push him for fear that he'd close up as he normally did and she'd never find anything out. Instead, she gave him a soft smile and urged, "Tell us about it."

********************

"Well, like I said, I woke up to that annoying song about the sunshine," Spike repeated, thinking back over how this terrible day had begun. "Alarm was set, not even seven yet, sun was barely up. Red had to have done it, thought she was all cute, playing a prank last night when she and Niblet were visiting with me. Planned to spend all day sleeping and that was ruined when the alarm went off and woke me up."

"Willow set your alarm as a prank?" Buffy asked, not believing that the redhead would have done something like that. Sure, she liked to play around with Spike, but that was kind of mean and Willow wasn't mean.

"She denies it, of course, but it had to be her," Spike said, giving the slayer a look that let her know if she tried to defend the redhead he'd stop talking.

"Okay, so Willow set the alarm. Then what?" Anya asked, knowing that he was wrong but not wanting to argue before she could get more details.

"Went to take a shower and the hot water wasn't working," Spike replied, making a face as he remembered the cold shower he'd taken that morning. "Water was freezing and it completely ruined the experience. When I got out, I smelled pancakes."

"The pancakes!" Anya leaned forward, having heard that mentioned in the argument between Willow and Spike.

"Thought Red had made me pancakes to apologize for the alarm, figured she felt guilty and was making amends," Spike recalled, "got upstairs and found out Niblet was having some microwave thing. She hadn't been cooking me pancakes at all, too busy reading her newspaper to think about me. She didn't even say she was sorry for waking me up so early, just asked if I wanted the fake pancakes and refused to make me her pancakes."

"Those microwave breakfasts are pretty good," Buffy said, not understanding what the big deal was about pancakes. "It's just pancakes, Spike. And it's a Friday. You know breakfasts are weekend events."

"I like Red's pancakes! Not some heat for five minutes imitation pancakes," Spike grumbled, glaring at the slayer for not understanding.

Anya nudged Buffy when Spike said he liked Red's pancakes, leering slightly as she indicated to the slayer that she thought it was far more than Willow's pancakes that the vampire liked. Buffy covered a giggle and glared at her before looking back at Spike.

"Okay, so Willow didn't make you pancakes. She does make great pancakes, doesn't she? I'm better with french toast, myself, but she has the uncanny ability to make golden brown pancakes that are just perfect circles and so light and fluffy and damn it, I'm hungry now!" Buffy whined, understanding now why Spike might have been upset about discovering the pancakes hadn't been homemade by Willow.

"She makes the best pancakes," Spike agreed, a soft smile crossing his face as he thought about Willow and the numerous breakfasts they'd made together.

Anya nudged Buffy again, wanting the slayer to notice the smile that had crossed Spike's handsome face. The slayer winked in response, causing Anya to smile.

"So, she wouldn't make me pancakes, even after she woke me up so early," Spike got back into telling the events of his horrible day, really getting into it, "and then she leaves me! Runs off to do inventory and leaves me alone. No sorry, no have a good day, no I'll miss you, just a 'take a nap because you're cranky' and she leaves!"

"How dare she!" Buffy asked, an amused smile crossing her face as she listened, glad that Spike was so caught up in telling the story that he missed the knowing sparkle in her hazel eyes. So, Spike was upset because Willow had left him and hadn't mentioned missing him. This is getting better and better, she decided as she waited for more.

********************

"Exactly!" Spike said, "She knows we always spend Fridays together and she not only makes plans for our day but she doesn't even say she's gonna miss me! And she calls me cranky. I am not cranky, damn it!"

"Of course not," Anya agreed, having received a nudge from Buffy when Spike verbally expressed his annoyance that Willow had made plans on their day. She thought it was so sweet that he considered Fridays their day, wondering if she and Xander had a day.

"So I was left alone all day, couldn't find anything on the telly. Was bored out of my mind by noon," Spike shook his head, "Decided to go back to sleep after lunch. Right bit of fun that was, let me tell you! My blood exploded all over the microwave. Took me ten minutes to get the mess cleaned up."

"Ew," Buffy wrinkled her nose, "I'm glad it's cleaned up...I mean, that really sucks, Spike."

"I finish cleaning that up and eat and then I try to get some sleep but I can't!" Spike continued, ignoring Buffy's comments as he leaned back, "I end up going back upstairs and I can't find anything to do! Well, I get the big idea of coming here to help Red finish the inventory, you know, be the nice guy that I am and help her get it all done so maybe we have a couple of hours to just hang out and enjoy our day. I ask a friend for a favor, which I really hate doing by the way, and I get a ride here to surprise Red."

"That's so sw...nice of you," Buffy said, stopping herself before she said sweet. So far, she was following Spike's day. He was right, it had been a pretty bad day for him. And he'd missed Willow! She again resisted the happy dance she was dying to do and instead nudged Anya really hard to see if the former demon was following the Willow missage that Spike had been experiencing.

"Only, when I get here, instead of finding her slaving over the inventory she was all so eager to do, I find out she's out flirting with some wanker that works at the coffee store and getting free pastries! Here I was, missing her and wanting to help her, and she's off flirting with someone else!" Spike hit his hand against the table as he growled.

"Willow was flirting?" Buffy couldn't keep the dismay out of her voice this time. Willow didn't flirt. The redhead was horrible at playing those kind of games. And she really did need to find out what exactly a wanker was, she decided.

"The guy flirts with her and she tends to blush a lot and stammer," Anya explained, "but he gives us free things because he thinks she's cute!"

"Oh, that makes more sense. Willow *is* cute!" Buffy smiled before looking back at Spike and noticing the jealousy in his blue eyes. Oh, boy, now things were really starting to make sense. She asked, "What happened after that?"

"Red came back with her free goods, wanting to know why I was here and denying that she'd been off flirting with another man when she was supposed to be doing the all important inventory so she could get finished and spend some time with me!" Spike said.

"They got into a fight," Anya confided with a slight smile, remembering the fireworks.

"She was bloody beautiful, her eyes all green and sparkling and her face flushed as she argued with me," Spike recalled softly, "silly girl tried to ignore me, but I was having none of that! Teased her until she apologized for making plans on our day, giving me one of her special smiles before she went back to inventory. That's when everything became all fucked up."

"What happened?" Buffy asked quietly, seeing the confused and affectionate look in his blue eyes as he talked about Willow. He thought she was beautiful and that she had special smiles and, Buffy's eyes widened as she began to suspect what must have happened. Oh God, he'd realized he loved Willow! This was great! Wait, he said it was fucked up.

"Nothing happened," Spike shook his head slightly, not believing he'd nearly told them that he was in love with Willow. Fuck, he'd just told them all about his damn day after vowing that he wasn't going to say a word! What the hell was he thinking? Okay, so maybe, in a very very very small way, he considered them sort of friends, using a vague definition of the word, but that didn't mean he was supposed to sit down and tell them all this. He was not a sharing kind of guy.

"He realized that he was in love with Willow," Anya said softly, glaring back at him when he glared at her, "What? Just because you're too damn scared to admit it doesn't mean I am! You love Willow. Deal with it!"

"Do you?" Buffy asked, looking back at Spike with hopeful eyes.

"Enough of this shit," Spike declared as he ran a hand through his hair. How the hell had Anya known he was in love with Willow?

"You do," Buffy smiled as she said, "Yes! It's about damn time!"

"He started another fight with her," Anya told Buffy, rolling her eyes, "instead of just telling her he loved her and wanted her, he starts a fight. Real smart, Blondie. Ends up with Willow being all upset and him all growly and they're *still* not together!"

"That's not good," Buffy said as she looked at Spike, "Why didn't you just tell her? God, Spike, I thought you were smarter than that!"

"Drop it, Slayer," Spike said, never confirming their belief that he loved Willow. He didn't understand why they were both acting as if they knew, when he'd only realized it an hour ago or so, and why they seemed happy about it. Probably enjoying his misery, he decided crossly.

Buffy sighed, watching Spike frown and glare at the table. She studied him silently for several moments before she began to suspect why he was being all snarly. Did he think that Willow didn't feel the same way? Goodness, he might be gorgeous and intelligent, but he was definitely blind when it came to relationships. She'd known about Willow's feelings for the blond months ago, the redhead not being the best at concealing her emotions though she must have done a great job since Spike seemed to have no idea. Buffy glanced at Anya, mouthing the question, 'Does he not know she loves him, too?'

Anya shook her head, mouthing back, 'They're both stupid! Stupid and scared!' She slowly smiled as she added, 'They need help!'

Buffy nodded, a thoughtful smile crossing her face. She wasn't really the type to interfere with her friends' love lives, okay so that was a bit of a lie but she chose to believe she didn't at that moment so she'd be able to excuse what was she about to do, knowing that Willow and Spike had sure as heck thank her when they were together and happy. She sighed loudly, causing Spike to look at her. She deliberately looked at the ceiling, shaking her head as she said, "You know, Spike, there are times that I really just don't understand why Willow loves you!"

********************

"What's your game, Slayer?" Spike demanded to know when he heard Buffy's comment. He should have known better. Why the hell had he bothered being nice to either of the humans and sharing the events of his horrible day? Stupid slayer was now using what he hadn't said and teasing him, making him think Willow loved him.

"I'm not playing any game, Spike," Buffy said as she rolled her eyes at the ceiling, wondering why she was even bothering. He was getting all growly again instead of actually listening to what she was saying.

Spike snorted, his blue eyes disbelieving as he glared at the slayer, "Sure you aren't. That's why your being all dramatic and sighing and talking about how Red loves me."

"Dramatic?" Buffy turned her full attention on him at that comment, giving in to her desire to just tell him what she thought, laughing sharply, "Me? I'm not the one pacing and growling and going on and on about what a horrible day I've had! I'm not the one too damn scared to admit that I'm in love with one of the most special women this world, hell any world, has ever seen! I'm not the one so fucking blind I can't see that said gorgeous redhead loves me and spends so much time hurting because I can't see what she's too insecure to say! I'm not the one so busy wallowing in reasons why she shouldn't love me to concentrate on the fact that she *does* love me! I'm not the one listening to voices from some insane bitch in my past that did her very best to make sure that I was never happy and to make sure I believed the lies she told me about not ever finding real love! I'm not..."

"Buffy, take a breath," Anya suggested as she watched the slayer's face become red as she yelled at Spike. Man, Buffy had surprised her. Not only was the blonde smarter than Anya had assumed, she was pretty darn good at observing those around her. Maybe she wasn't as selfish as they all thought.

"You make me so mad!" Buffy told Spike, growling as she tossed her hands in the air, knowing now why he had spent so much time pacing. She wanted to give him a good smack in hopes that he'd actually listen to what she had said. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized what all she had said, feeling suddenly a bit guilty for completely going off on him like that. It was just, she was so sick of watching Willow play friends with Spike when she knew the redhead really cared about the blond vampire and she was sick of watching Spike falling in love with her best friend and being so darn caught up in his own fucked up insecurities to admit how he felt. They had a chance to be happy together and, damn it, she wanted her friends to be happy! Especially Willow.

"Are you finished yelling?" Spike asked softly, his blue eyes flashing between confusion at what Buffy had said and hope that the slayer might actually be right that Willow loved him and anger at having the slayer yell at him like he was some misbehaving child.

"No promises," Buffy gave him a crookedly sheepish smile as she ran a hand through her hair. "Spike, I didn't mean to go off like that. I was just so fed up with you running away from what you could have with Willow."

"I'm not running away from anything," Spike defended, arching a brow as he studied the slayer. She was serious, no amusement or teasing in her hazel eyes at all. He looked away, surprise crossing his face as he whispered, "You really think she loves me."

"Duh," Buffy laughed softly, "hence the reason I just went a bit psycho and started yelling."

"How did you know," Spike stopped before he said how he felt about Willow, not believing he was sitting here discussing his love life with Slutty and Bitchy.

"That she loves you?" Anya asked, shrugging, "As Buffy said, duh! It's all the small things. The way she looks at you, the way she smiles at you, the way she talks about you, the way she seems happier when you're around and just a little sad when you're not. And I won't even bother mentioning the chemistry between you two, the attraction that always simmers whenever you're together. She wants you and she loves you. I don't really know how you missed it. Xander even noticed months ago and, as much as I love him, he's pretty obtuse about matters of the heart."

"She's loved me for months?" Spike shook his head, finding it all a bit unbelievable. He'd planned to ask them how they knew he loved Willow when he had only just realized it, but he was thankful that Anya had misunderstood, finding her observations interesting.

"I dunno...it's been a long time, I think," Buffy said with a slight smile, hoping Willow would forgive her for discussing this topic with Spike. She added, "Probably about as long as you've loved her, only I think she realized it sooner."

"I can't love her," Spike responded, "I'm a vampire, pet, if you remember. Demons don't love. It goes against our nature. It's not normal."

"Spike, when have you ever been normal?" Buffy asked with an affectionate smile, knowing that no one would ever believe that a slayer had not only befriended a master vampire but was also playing matchmaker for said vampire and her best friend. Oh well, like she'd told Spike, when had she ever done anything normal?

"Are you saying I'm not normal, Slayer?" Spike asked, a reluctant smile crossing his face as Buffy laughed.

"Normal is boring," Anya said bluntly. "You're a vampire, but you can love. Just because you're a demon doesn't mean you can't care and want and need. Dying doesn't stop you from feeling, it just makes it that much more special if you do feel love. And if you try to give us that whole 'I'm a vampire and she's a human blah blah blah' crap, I'll scream! Willow loves you, regardless of the whole blood drinking thing, and she could care less that you're a vampire. As for you, sure, she's human for now, but you'll turn her one day so there's not much you can whine about on that front. Besides that, she's got major magic in her blood which makes her a little more supernatural than just plain old human."

"You two are meddling nags," Spike decided, noticing that the slayer didn't protest at all when Anya mentioned that he'd eventually turn Willow. This day had gone from bad to worse to unbelievable. Buffy and Anya giving him love advice, him actually listening to what they were saying, his feelings for Willow hitting him so suddenly that he was still trying to come to terms with the idea that he had not only fallen in love with the pretty redhead but that said love had existed for months and he'd never realized it. How had he not noticed that he loved Willow?

Okay, so maybe he had noticed something happening between them, but he couldn't believe he had feelings that were so deep and passionate for the redhead and he'd been too damn stupid to realize that they were far more than just platonic. And Willow. They said she'd been in love with him for a long time but he couldn't remember ever noticing anything that suggested she loved him. True, he might not have been paying attention but wouldn't he have been able to tell when she started to think of him as a potential lover and mate versus just being a friend? Or would he have been so caught up in keeping his heart guarded and doing his best to ignore his own growing feelings for the witch that he wouldn't have noticed unless she'd looked him in the eyes and said the words?

"I prefer to think of us as concerned friends rather than meddling," Buffy said with a smile.

"So, Spike, now you know how Willow feels about you," Anya said, giving Spike a pointed look, "The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

********************

"What am I going to do about it?" Spike repeated, his blue eyes suddenly thoughtful as he gave Anya's question some serious thought. Finally, he looked at them and admitted, "I have no idea, pets."

"Do you believe that she loves you?" Buffy asked.

"How could she love me?" Spike asked, his eyes flashing with insecurity instead of the arrogant confidence he usually possessed. He sighed, looking at the table as he frowned, "I'm a monster, a killer. Hell, if I didn't have this implant, I'd have killed all of you years ago. I'm not nearly good enough for her. How could she love someone like me?"

"I'll take this one," Anya told Buffy before she leaned over and smacked Spike hard on the back of his head. He turned to growl at her and she smiled sweetly, "Just wanted to get your attention. No fun you having your pity party when we weren't invited!"

"Bitch," he snarled, rubbing the back of his head where she'd hit him.

"No, she's the slut. I'm the bitch," Buffy corrected with an amused smile. She was rather enjoying this, knowing that Spike needed their help even if he wouldn't ask, and that meant he had to tolerate them. She'd wanted to smack him earlier, now wishing she had just done it. Maybe it would knock some sense into him.

"Ahem," Anya cleared her throat, "I was trying to answer his question. Spike, she could love someone like you because Willow is the most loving person I've ever met. She calls me friend and I spent over a thousand years torturing and killing and doing pretty much whatever a wish asked for. You're, what, about a century and a quarter or so? Please. You're a mere baby. She's forgiving and loving and she's your second chance! She loves you for who you are, that includes the demon as well as the man. As for you not being good enough for her, well, you're probably right, but you love her, even if you want to continue denying it to make yourself seem like the big bad uncaring vampire, and Willow deserves to be loved and cherished and protected and wanted. You can do that, once you quit being so darn scared and admit that you actually have a chance to be happy!"

"Yeah, what she said," Buffy nodded in agreement.

"I need to think," Spike groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. It was just too much. When he'd first arrived at the store, he'd been having a pretty awful day, was a bit cranky but eager to see his Red. He'd never expected to find himself jealous of her flirting with some kid that worked at the coffee place. He'd definitely never imagined realizing in the middle of a friendly argument that he loved her and wanted her in his arms, his bed, his heart, that she was his future and she made him feel things he'd never expected to feel. To say he had been surprised was an understatement. He hadn't planned on getting into a heated argument with her that ended with her storming out and glaring at him. He had to admit that that was the worst thing that had happened to him all day. Waking up early, cold shower, exploding blood, jealousy...that had been nothing compared to how he felt when she'd turned away from him after he realized he loved her and left before he could figure out how to show her what he was feeling.

It was that moment, when she'd looked at him with those beautiful green eyes that had been angry and confused as well as other emotions he'd been unable to completely place and then walked away...that's when he knew that he loved her. He'd wanted to go after her, to pull her into his arms and kiss her and never let her go. Instead, he'd remained where he was and let her leave. Then he'd been confronted by Anya and Buffy and those two miserable humans had managed to get him to talk about his day, even after he'd vowed to ignore them, and they'd seen that he loved Red, claimed to have known all along though he'd only just figured it out himself. They said Willow returned his feelings, a possibility that made him hopeful and happy at the same time he tried to convince himself that they were wrong, that Willow could never love someone like him. He glanced at the clock, knowing that Willow would be returning soon with Dawn to finish her inventory. He couldn't talk to her yet, had a feeling that he'd end up arguing with her again because he was still so bloody confused and scared that he didn't know what to do. He needed to figure out exactly how he felt before he talked to her, needed to have the courage to confess his real feelings for her. God, he couldn't lose her. If friendship was all that they could have, he'd have to settle for that, but would he lose even that if he suddenly declared that he was in love with her and she didn't return the feelings?

Anya had said it was obvious to everyone, even Chubs, that Willow loved him. How had he missed the signs? He needed to think back over the last few months, to, quite honestly, convince himself that she might love him and that there was a chance that she wanted him in the same he wanted her before he admitted how he felt. The day had been so damn confusing, from the second he woke up all the way to this very moment. He looked at Buffy, asking, "Could you drive me home? I don't want to be here when Red gets back."

"What?" Buffy's eyes narrowed, "Running again, Spike?"

"No, you stupid cow, I'm trying to figure everything out!" Spike groaned.

"Maybe it would be a good idea for Spike to not be here when Willow gets back," Anya decided, "she can finish the inventory and he can have time to get a spine so that he can actually communicate how he's feeling without wimping out or turning it into another argument."

"Red was mad at me when she left," Spike said softly, not even bothering to glare at Anya for calling him a wimp and saying he needed a spine. He shrugged, "I thought it would be better if I wasn't here when she got back. Besides, I need to think about all this and decide what to do."

"You love her, she loves you. I don't really see much of a problem," Buffy said before adding, "but I guess I can understand that you just now realized you loved her and, being a vampire and all, you're probably having some issues that need dealt with. I'll give you a ride home, but I want you to do some serious thinking and then I want confessions of love and smoochies and happy endings, damn it!"

"You are aware that it's a little fucked up for a slayer to be encouraging a master vampire to be confessing love and having smoochies with her best friend, aren't you?" Spike asked with a slightly amused smile, feeling a little more relaxed now that he knew he was going to be able to go home and do some serious thinking, alone, without two nagging females adding their opinions constantly.

"Ah, but the master vampire in question loves the best friend in question and is actually a pretty nice guy underneath the 'I'm the Big Bag Vampire' act, not to mention that said slayer wants her best friend to be extremely happy and very well loved," Buffy smiled as she grabbed her keys and started walking towards the door, "I'll move the car around to the alley."

Spike rolled his eyes as the slayer left, glancing at the former demon and smiling slightly as he asked, "So, Red loves me, huh?"

"We've already covered that, with examples," Anya said dryly before she started to smile, "wait, you said that like you might finally be believing it. Do you believe us now?"

"I might," Spike shrugged as he started to move towards the back room when he heard the slayer honk the horn. Turning back to look at Anya, he smirked as he said, "After all, what's not to love?" before he headed into the back room and called out behind him, "See ya later, Demon Girl. And thanks."

********************

Willow didn't have long to wait for Dawn by the time she finally arrived at school. What little time she did have was spent thinking about everything that had happened at the store with Spike and the argument. In the end, she was even more confused by the events of the last couple of hours instead of having any clear and definite explanations.

She knew that Spike was in a crappy mood, having a bad day and just being cranky as hell, and she'd excused his behavior this morning due to extenuating circumstances. She'd honestly figured that she'd return home from inventory to find him in a better humor, perhaps having had a nap and possibly being happy to see her. Wishful thinking, for sure, but she hadn't been able to prevent herself the dream of him being as happy to see her as she was to see him.

She had definitely not expected to return from dealing with the annoying coffee guy that insisted on flirting with her despite her blatant lack of interest to find Spike pacing around the store and just raring for a fight. For one brief moment of insanity, she had hoped that maybe he had missed her and come to the store to be with her. Yeah, right. Not bloody likely, as he would reply to such a thought. No, he'd come to the store because he was bored and wanted to argue. Well, she'd responded and argued with him, not really understanding his interest in the coffee guy, but giving him the verbal disagreement that he seemed to thrive on. Things had been okay, for a bit. He'd been his annoying and sexy self, admitting that he had been upset that she had made plans on their day, their day Willow thought as a soft smile crossed her lips.

Shaking her head slightly, she remembered the rest of the afternoon. She'd gotten back to the inventory, vowing to never again agree to help Anya, knowing that such a vow would probably be broken the next time inventory came around but feeling pretty good at making the vow at least. Then, all of a sudden, Spike had pulled her chair back and glared and growled and acted even stranger than he had when she'd come back with the coffee. He'd argued and been rude and just so...argh!

She hadn't been as patient that time, a little irritated that she wasn't able to finish the inventory because she'd had to stop and entertain Spike with one of the arguments that he always found so amusing and fun, and she'd been annoyed that he was still glaring and growling at her. It wasn't like everyone didn't have bad days once in a while, and he was certainly mature enough to deal with it, even if he had been acting less than mature that day. And then he'd brought up the damn alarm again.

She had not set his alarm, hadn't even touched his alarm clock, and yet he still seemed convinced that it was all her fault. Even if she had wanted to play some kind of juvenile prank on Spike, which she hadn't, she certainly would have chosen something a little bit more interesting. But, she wasn't stupid! Okay, so she had fallen in love with Spike and that was pretty darn stupid, but it didn't count really because that was a matter of the heart. She wasn't stupid enough to play a prank on Spike, knowing full well that he'd get revenge with his own prank, and said prank would probably be horrible and embarrassing and positively evil! Nope, not this girl. No prank pulling on Spike for her. But did he listen to her denial and trust her enough to believe her? No, he kept right on growling and glaring and she'd finally had enough and told him off. He'd been surprised by her outburst, that was definite, and then he'd just given her this look that she hadn't been able to figure out and he'd turned away from her, not responding in his typical smirking way when they argued. And that was what had her really confused.

Before she could think about it anymore, she saw Dawn headed her way. A smile crossed the redhead's pretty face as she watched the teen run towards the car.

"Thank God it's Friday," Dawn said as she opened the car and slid inside. She smiled, "I love the weekend!"

"How was your day?" Willow asked as she started to leave the parking lot, rolling her eyes as she noticed the backed up traffic. It would appear that everyone decided to leave at the exact same time. It was turning out to not be that great a day for her, either.

"It was actually pretty good," Dawn said thoughtfully, "no tests, we had pizza for lunch, and we had a sub for chemistry that couldn't find the assignment for the day so it was a total blow off period. How was inventory?"

"Still working on it," Willow grimaced, "had an unexpected interruption so I have to go back to the store to finish it. It's nearly done, just adding a few more numbers and then putting everything into the computer."

"Cool. I'll help you finish. I'm pretty good at that addition thing," Dawn smiled at the redhead.

"I'll take you up on that offer, Dawn. You can finish the counting while I start reconciling with the computer," Willow said as she finally made it out of the school parking lot. She wondered if Spike was still going to be acting cranky when they got back, her green eyes becoming thoughtful as she again found her thoughts on the blond vampire that had stolen her heart.

********************

"And then Brent smiled and said that I was not only beautiful but also one of the smartest girls he'd ever met," Dawn giggled slightly, remembering the compliment and how, even though it was rather corny, she had still blushed and appreciated the praise coming from the cute guy in her Algebra class.

"That's nice," Willow said with a vague smile, splitting her attention between listening to Dawn and thinking about her argument earlier with Spike. She wasn't ignoring Dawn, just not giving the teen her full attention.

Dawn had noticed that Willow was not listening to her after the third 'That's nice'. Willow was really smart and usually responded with words that Dawn would sometimes have to look up in the dictionary. The teen didn't mind that the redhead was thinking about something, having a pretty good idea that such intense thought must be about Spike so she couldn't really complain. But, she could tell by the slight frown on Willow's pretty face that the thoughts must not be on love and naked numminess. Dawn decided that maybe it would be a good idea for Willow to not be thinking such frown inducing thoughts so she tried to figure out a way to distract Willow until the redhead was ready to think about wide smile inducing thoughts about love and naked Spike and perhaps naked Spike with naked Willow and then lots of happiness for her two favorite people in the world. A crafty smile crossed the teen's face as she continued talking, "And then Brent and I had wild monkey sex."

"That's...what?" Willow turned her head quickly to stare at Dawn. She might not have been listening to every single word, but she definitely knew she must have missed something.

"It's okay, Willow," Dawn smiled innocently as she tried to keep the amusement from her eyes, adding, "It's perfectly acceptable that we had wild monkey sex. I mean, social etiquette says it's fine after the third date."

"Real cute, Dawn," Willow said as she noticed the teen struggling to keep herself from laughing.

"Gotcha!" Dawn giggled finally, unable to keep a straight face as Willow glared at her.

"Let's see how funny it is when I tell your sister that you're talking about having wild monkey sex with some boy in your algebra class!" Willow said sweetly, letting Dawn know that she had been listening even if she had been distracted by thoughts of Spike.

"You wouldn't!" Dawn whined, "Buffy would totally freak if she knew that I even said the S word, much less mentioned it in connection with wild and monkey. You know I was just messing with you! I don't even know Brent, and, sure he's cute, but I certainly don't love him. And I'm only fifteen and I'm thinking that sex can so wait until I'm older and in love and can appreciate a relationship with someone that loves me and you can't tell Buffy! She'd never let me out of the house if she realized I was old enough to even tease about sex!"

"Dawn," Willow glanced at the teen, her face completely serious as she shook her head slowly.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"Gotcha," Willow said with a laugh as she winked at the teen.

"Not funny!" Dawn laughed, running a hand through her hair, "You scared me to death!"

"As if you having sex with some teenage lothario isn't scary?" Willow asked with an arched brow.

"Well, okay, fine. We're even!" Dawn decided. "I promise not to run out and meaningless sex with someone I don't love and you promise not to mention to Buffy that I'm old enough to say the word sex much less contemplate having wild monkey sex with someone other than myself and oh my God that so did not sound the way it was supposed to!"

"Thanks for making me laugh, Dawnie," Willow said as she laughed, feeling more relaxed than she had since Spike had shown up at the store.

"Oh, that's no problem, Wills. I have a tendency to say embarrassing things so you should always be able to find something to laugh about when I'm around," Dawn said before asking, "so what were ya thinking about that caused such a nasty old frown?"

"Spike," Willow sighed, being honest with the teen that was like a sister to her. "He showed up at the store this afternoon and was even crankier than he was this morning and we had a fight."

"You guys are always fighting," Dawn smiled, "oh, sorry, debating or whatever nice word you want to call it but it's pretty much fighting and sparring verbally, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, this time was a bit different. He was acting weird and didn't smirk or get the last word in before I left," Willow said.

"I see your point. That is weird," Dawn grew serious as she thought about the idea of Spike and Willow not getting along, not liking that idea at all. They were her anchors, having taken care of her after Buffy had died, being her best friends despite the age difference, and always making her smile whenever they were all together. True, they were a bit annoying with their complete lack of realization when it came to their love for each other, but she cared about them a lot and could overlook their blatant stupidity when it came to their mutual desire and love for each other.

"Anyway, I'm sorry I was only giving you half my attention. I'll listen now if you want to finish telling me about that cute boy in your Algebra class," Willow promised.

"It's okay. I don't mind sharing you with Spike," Dawn said with a smile before she finished telling Willow about her day at school and the flirting that Brent had done during the remainder of their drive to the store.

********************

"We're home," Buffy told Spike as she pulled into her driveway. She glanced into the backseat of the car, seeing the leather duster move as Spike began to sit up. He had laid in the back with his duster covering him during the entire drive, claiming it was to keep himself protected from the rays of the sun. It was a flimsy excuse at best, and she'd nearly called him on it, but had finally decided that he deserved a bit of a break from talking. After all, he'd been far more forthcoming at the store with her and Anya than she had ever expected, admitting that he had missed Willow and giving them enough visual evidence to confirm their suspicions that he loved the redhead. So, she had remained silent during the drive and hadn't pointed out the lovely tinted windows that Willow had had installed the summer after she had died, instead thinking about her best friend and the vampire that loved her. She smiled as she added, "I'll go and unlock the front door so you can make a run for it. Pesky old sun hasn't gone down yet."

"Thanks, Slayer," Spike said, cringing as he said those words. He'd managed to get her to leave him alone during the drive home, having fully expected that she'd keep pestering him about his feelings for Willow and not give him a moment of silence to think about everything. She'd surprised him, again, and just turned on the radio and let him think.

Buffy got out of the car and moved to the front door. She unlocked the door, opening it wide before calling out, "Okay, Fang. The door is open."

Spike opened the car and ran to the front door, careful to keep himself covered from the sun. Luckily, it wasn't much of a run and he was in the house soon. He took his duster off as Buffy came inside and shut the door. Glancing at the slayer, he said, "I'm going to my room."

"Not so fast, Romeo," Buffy said as she grabbed his arm and steered him into the living room. When he started to pull away, she tightened her grip and gave him a very sweet smile that didn't match the warning in her eyes, "We need to talk for a minute."

"Haven't we talked enough?" Spike asked, rolling his eyes as he pushed past her and sat on the sofa, knowing that there was really no use trying to fight the slayer on this. She was nearly as stubborn and determined as his Red, and it wasn't like he could fight her. Not with the chip in his head and not with her being his girl's best friend.

"You're not really good at this, are you?" Buffy asked casually as she sat down in her favorite chair opposite the sofa. She watched him squirm and make faces as he avoided answering her question. Finally, he sighed loudly and glared at her, which only caused her to smile at his antics.

"Not good at what, Slayer?" Spike finally asked, hating this, wondering if it was indeed just a nightmare, wishing she'd just shut up and leave him in peace so he could figure out what the hell he was going to do about his feelings for Willow. Instead she was all smiling and seemed amused. Why hadn't he killed her when he'd had the chance? Annoying damn slayer.

"Talking about your emotions, actually, talking in general," Buffy said, "I know that a lot of guys aren't really into communicating how they feel. I've read Cosmo for years, after all. And I guess that being a vampire, having a demon and all that crap, well, I'm guessing it prevents you from sharing your feelings."

"Okay, that's it. No more Oprah for you, Slayer," Spike said as he looked at her with annoyance in his blue eyes.

"Spike, I'm not going to ask if you love Willow. I know you do. I can see it every time you look at her, in the way you talk to her, in the way you smile whenever she comes into a room. I'd have to be blind and dumb not to see the love that you two have for each other," Buffy gave him a warning look, "and don't even say that I've got one out of two because I am so not dumb! Especially compared to you two!"

"Wasn't gonna say a word, slayer," he said with a slight smirk that faded as he thought over what she had said, "Wait, you can see it?"

"Duh," Buffy said, rolling her eyes. "Did you think that Willow was the only one showing symptoms of being in love? Honey, you've got it bad and we all know it! Well, Willow doesn't but that's because she's too busy trying to keep her own feelings secret to realize that you return them. Talk about being dumb! You two take that award, for sure."

"Is there a point to all this?" Spike asked, frowning as he wondered if what she said was true. Had his feelings for Willow been obvious? If so, why had it taken him so long to realize that he was in love with her?

********************

"Yes," Buffy nodded, giving him a serious look as she said, "Don't hurt her. I don't mean physically, because I trust you, as stupid as that might be, and I don't think you'd ever hurt Willow. Besides that, must I threaten you with a holy water bath and pinning you down in the middle of the desert on a bright sunny afternoon if you ever hurt her? I think we're beyond the threatening stage, Spike, and that you know exactly what I'd do to you if ever hurt her so I won't even bother making the threats. We're friends, in a way, and I just wanted to tell you to be careful with Willow. She's the strongest person that I know, but she's also very fragile in some ways. She's insecure and doesn't see how wonderful she is and how great a person she is and how beautiful and smart and just fantastic she is. I think that you might be able to help her see just how special she is, and that she might be able to show you that you deserve to be loved and to be happy. Call me a softy, but I do think that together you two are going to be something really special. I wanted you to know that to be loved by Willow is one of the greatest gifts in the world and I want you to appreciate that gift."

"I'd never hurt Red," Spike said softly, seeing the sincerity in Buffy's hazel eyes. And damn it if she didn't surprise him yet again. He'd definitely underestimated the slayer, had no idea that she'd be supportive of a relationship between him and Willow. They were friends, in a way, but he had never expected her to sit down and have a serious conversation.

"If I thought you would, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now," Buffy smiled, "we'd be on our way to the desert to play in the sun. I just, well, I'm her best friend and I want her to be happy and I honestly think that being involved with you will make her happy. Can I ask you something, Spike?"

"You can ask, don't know if I'll answer," was his response.

"Why the hell did you want to come back here to this empty old house instead of just waiting until she returned with Dawn and, finally, telling her how you feel and making with the smoochies?" Buffy asked.

"It's been a hell of a day, Slayer," Spike shook his head, his blue eyes flashing with numerous emotions as he admitted, "was a bit scared to talk to her until I figured out what to do, until I dealt with everything I was feeling. Didn't want to scare her or lose her, ya know?"

"I won't tell anyone you were scared," Buffy said with an amused smile, earning her a glare from Spike, "but I have to say that your day would get a heck of a lot better if you were sharing it with Willow, wouldn't it?"

"Are you finished talking yet?" Spike asked with a groan, though he had to admit that there was some truth in her statement. It would be a much better day, hell a much better life, sharing it with Willow. Maybe he was thinking too much, still hearing Dru's voice telling him that he was a silly boy for having the human emotion of love and that no one would ever want that from him, believing that Willow deserved better. Who said he wasn't good enough for her? Buffy and Anya both seemed to believe that he was what Willow needed to be happy. Maybe, just maybe, *he* was what she deserved, he was good enough for her and would make her happy and she'd love him as much as he loved her and she was meant to be his forever.

"Just trying to be helpful," Buffy said as she stood up, "Guess I'll go back to the store now, help Willow and Anya finish that stupid inventory. I've said everything that I wanted to say."

"Wait, Slayer...Buffy, what do you think I should do?" Spike asked her, watching her eyes widen with surprise at his question. Well, he guessed that was something. He'd finally surprised her.

"You're asking me?" Buffy looked at him in shock, having had no problems offering her opinions when he hadn't seemed to want them, but finding it a bit surprising that he was actually asking her what she thought. A good surprising, she realized as she slowly smiled, deciding that maybe they were friends and not just in a way. When the hell had that happened? Probably around the time he'd fallen in love with her best friend and Buffy had realized that he was good for Willow.

"Well, you've been yammering all afternoon about it all. Figured you must have some idea," Spike shrugged, thankful that no one was around to witness this. God, asking a slayer for advice. The day just kept getting worse.

"Okay, let me give this a moment of thought," Buffy said as she considered everything that was going on, thinking about Willow and her best friend's insecurity when it came to matters of the heart, thinking about Spike and his obvious fear that Willow didn't feel the same way, knowing that Spike wasn't the best talker around when it came to emotions and sharing his feelings, knowing that Willow had no idea at all that Spike loved her and would probably be shocked when she learned the truth...a slow smile crossed the slayer's face as she admitted, "I think you should go to Willow and forget about talking, forget about thinking, forget about everything except giving her the best damn kiss this world has ever seen!"

"You think I should kiss her? Not declare all the sappy feelings or tell her how I feel?" Spike studied her, wondering if she was serious.

"Hell yeah!" Buffy nodded as her smile widened, "A sizzling kiss that lets her know exactly how you feel so she won't be able to deny that you really love her and want her and so that you won't fuck it all up by trying to stammer out how you feel when you really do kinda suck at the verbal sharing thing, though you seem to be getting better. A wild, passionate, deep kiss that just heats up the room...yeah, that's what you should do."

"You know, Slayer," Spike slowly smiled, "I think that's the best idea you've ever had."

"You're gonna do it?" Buffy asked eagerly, thinking that it was one of her better ideas. Willow wouldn't know what hit her if Spike put all of his feelings and passion into a kiss. And she was pretty sure that the redhead would return all the love and passion and give Spike a heck of a kiss in return.

"Let's go back to the store," Spike said as he stood and put his leather duster back on. He smiled as he said, "We've had enough talking and arguing. It's time for some action. She won't be able to ignore *my* kiss."

********************

Willow was laughing as she entered the Magic Box, listening to Dawn's spot-on imitation of her biology teacher. She smiled as she said, "Hey Anya, we're back."

"Good afternoon, Anya," Dawn said with a smile at the former demon before she looked around and asked, "Where's Buffy? Will said she was here."

"Where's Spike?" Willow asked, not seeing the blond anywhere, assuming he must be in the back, "Is he taking a nap in the back room?"

"I can answer both of those questions with one answer," Anya said, her eyes watching Willow's face as she said, "Buffy took Spike home. He didn't want to be here when you came back."

"What?" Willow's eyes widened as she looked at Anya. "You're joking, right? They're sparring in the back or he's hiding ready to jump out at me and try to scare me."

"Why didn't Spike want to be here?" Dawn asked, noticing that Anya was paying close attention to Willow's reaction to her news and having a good idea that something was going on. Clearly that something must involve Willow and Spike so she played along, trying to figure out what she had missed.

"Willow hurt his feelings," Anya said sadly, turning her head so that she could wink at Dawn without being noticed by Willow.

"I did what?" Willow asked with confusion.

"Poor Spikey," Dawn said softly, her eyes amused as she began to suspect that Anya was doing her best to perform a little bit of matchmaking and thinking to herself that it was about time they interfered. They'd sat back and watched Willow and Spike fall in love over the last year and had somewhat patiently waited for them to acknowledge their feelings and have a happy ending with lots of smoochies, but their friends were lost in an oblivious state that seemed to prevent either of them, two of the smartest people that Dawn had ever met, to realize their love much less admit it. Now, it would seem that Anya had decided that they had waited long enough for their friends' happiness and Dawn was eager to assist in the matchmaking plot, whatever it might be.

"Poor Spikey?" Willow repeated, turning her attention from Anya to Dawn before she looked back at Anya, "Okay, what's going on? You were here the entire time! You know that he started it all, he started bickering and growling and pacing. How did I hurt his feelings?"

"Willow, you didn't listen to him! He was having a horrible day and just wanted to talk to you, his bestest friend in the entire world, and probably get a little sympathy and understanding and all he ended up getting was you ignoring him and walking away. That would hurt my feelings and I'm not nearly as sensitive as Spike so it's no surprise that he wanted to go home where he could just suffer alone since you didn't care," Anya sighed.

"This is ridiculous," Willow said as she tried to figure out if Anya was just teasing her or if the former demon was sincere. A frown crossed her face as she thought back over the afternoon and she realized that she hadn't really listened to what Spike was saying, focusing on his accusation of her setting his alarm instead of listening. But, it wasn't her fault. He'd been cranky and growling at her and had wanted to argue, he hadn't wanted her to make it all better...had he? Oh God, what if he had? Every time she was having one of those really bad days, he'd just sit and let her rant and rave and sometimes he'd draw her into a debate to divert her attention away from the bad day...and sometimes he'd just put his arm around her shoulder and hold her against him and watch some really awful movie that he couldn't stand just because she liked it. Had he expected the same since he was finally having a bad day? And all she'd done was get mad at him, being pretty rude and walking away. She frowned as she said, "I'm a horrible friend, aren't I?"

"Of course not," Anya responded, "but Spike might feel differently right now. He was pretty upset with you just leaving like that, not even listening to what he was saying, not seeing what he was feeling."

"That's harsh, Wills," Dawn said as she began to put the pieces together. Anya seemed to be dwelling on the part about Willow not listening to what Spike had said and not seeing what he was feeling. The teen's eyes began to widen as a smile crossed her face. Had he said he cared about Willow? The smile faded as she realized that the redhead must not have been paying any attention at all!

"I didn't mean to not listen to him, it's just, he was wanting to argue so I argued with him. He's the one that jerked on my chair and took the argument beyond our usual playful debates," Willow defended, running a hand through her red hair as she realized that she might have messed this one up. She'd been so caught up in keeping her feelings for him secret and in being pissed off that he wanted to blame every event in his bad day on her that she'd not been there for him when he needed someone to just make the day better.

"I'd expected better from you, Willow, I honestly had," Anya said, her lips twisting into a knowing smile as she added, "since you love him and all."

********************

"Well, I'm sorry that I was such a huge disappointment to you Anya. It's not like I have a lot of practice with dealing with Spike when he's having a bad day!" Willow groaned before she suddenly froze, her eyes widening in surprise as she stared at Anya and whispered, "What do you mean since I love him?"

"Willow, we all know that you love Spike," Dawn said with a smile.

"Oh, um, well, I love all you guys," Willow said with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, you do, but you *love* Spike," Dawn said.

"How long have you known?" Willow asked softly, knowing there was no point in denying it. She'd never been very good at concealing her emotions, should have known that her love for the blond vampire was evident to anyone looking. Why, then, did he not seem to see it? Or did he see it and just choose to ignore it so he wouldn't hurt her or lose her friendship when he told her he didn't feel the same way?

"A long time," Anya responded with an affectionate smile, "and you do know that he loves you, too, don't you?"

"No way," Willow denied, sighing, "I'm just Red, the best friend. He doesn't think of me in a romantic kind of way."

"Puh-leez," Dawn snorted, rolling her eyes, "I think he loves you even more than you love him! Have you never noticed the way he smiles whenever you enter the room? The way his eyes follow you whenever you're not right beside him? The way he loves to selfishly have you all to himself and not have to share your attention with the rest of us? What about the way he always seems to be the one to accompany you on patrol or sit by you during movie nights?"

"I especially like the way he gets her to argue with him because she looks smashing with her eyes all sparkly and her skin flushed from debating. Arguing is foreplay to vampires and he does love to fight with you," Anya told Willow.

"You're both crazy," Willow decided, wanting to believe them but knowing that it was just a dream. Spike didn't love her. If he did, surely she'd have seen it. They were talking about all these examples of how he felt but she'd never witnessed any of those. Okay, so he did like to argue and tease her, but she also enjoyed arguing with him. It was refreshing to have someone intelligent in which she could debate various topics. And, yeah, he did look sexy when he was fighting with her, his lips twisted into that sensual smirk and the way his eyes darkened just a bit and...was it possible that he felt the same way about her?

"If you don't believe us, just ask him," Anya dared, arching a brow as she smiled at Willow.

"I'm not going to ask him!" Willow squeaked.

"Fine, don't ask him. But I do know that you really hurt his feelings this afternoon. When he left here, he was practically depressed and unhappy," Anya lied just a bit, "he is having a really bad day, Willow, and he just wanted you to listen and distract him from it."

"You're right," Willow sighed, "he always does his best to distract me when I'm having a bad day and I feel really guilty now that I didn't even try listening to him. I just snapped at him and ignored him. Spike hates being ignored and that probably just made his day worse. I'm such a horrible friend."

"How are you gonna fix it?" Dawn asked, deciding to lay off the topic of Spike's reciprocation of Willow's love to focus on Anya's plan, which she was beginning to understand.

"Anya, can you finish the inventory up without me?" Willow asked.

"I'll help her," Dawn volunteered, a slow smile crossing her face. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go home and find Spike and listen to him, let him rant about how horrible his day has been and while he's telling me, I'm going to make him some chocolate chip cookies because they're his favorites. After that, I'm going to try to make his day better by distracting him with a movie or something," Willow said.

"That sounds like a very good idea," Anya declared, rather proud that her plan had worked. She had not only gotten Willow to admit her feelings for Spike, which the redhead hadn't even denied after the first initial surprised denial, but she'd also got Willow thinking about the possibility that Spike returned her feelings and she was going to go home and talk to Spike. Since Spike was now fully aware of his love and Willow had admitted her own love, it couldn't possibly take that long for them to tell each other how they felt and then they could finally be happy.

"I'll see you guys later," Willow said as she grabbed up her bookbag and stuff and headed outside to her car. She'd be home soon and maybe Spike would be past the growling phase and he'd actually talk to her and then he could start feeling better about his bad day. She knew Anya and Dawn had to be mistaken about Spike loving her, didn't they? She began to think about everything they had said as she left the parking lot and started to drive home, to Spike.

********************

Buffy parked in the alley behind the Magic Box, because it was easier for Spike to get inside as well as because she didn't want Willow to see her arrive. She looked at Spike and smiled, excitement and anticipation in her hazel eyes as she said, "We'll go in the back and you can stay there and I'll send Willow to get something for me and then you can grab her and kiss her."

"Let's just do this," Spike said, having had doubts from the second he had agreed to Buffy's plan. He couldn't believe that he was not only listening to the slayer regarding his feelings for Willow, but that he was also planning to take her suggestion on how to handle the situation. Kissing Willow was definitely something he could consider a pleasure to do, but a part of him still wondered if she could possibly love him. He hated feeling like this, the insecurity and uncertainty and fear...it reminded him of being human.

"Spike, you're growling again. Isn't that what caused the argument in the first place?" Buffy asked quietly, not sure what had happened during the drive to the store. He'd been acting like his normal self, arrogant and smirking, seeming to have complete faith that Willow would fall into his arms once they kissed, finally seeming to believe that the redhead did love him. As they had driven, though, he'd gotten quieter, started thinking again, and now he was squirming around and seemed to be upset again.

"I just," he trailed off, not about to tell anyone, especially not the slayer, that he was more scared than he could ever remember being. If they were wrong, if Willow really didn't love him, his kissing her might push her out of his life completely. He couldn't imagine not having her around, not having her as his friend. True, if they were right and she did love him, he'd have not only a friend but a lover and companion, so the risk was definitely worth it, but he was still scared. Give him a dozen demons to fight and he'd have no problems. But give him one beautiful redhead to confess his feelings to and he was scared to death.

"She does love you," Buffy said softly, wondering if it was a bad thing that she was beginning to understand Spike so well. She knew nearly all of Willow's moods, smiles, frowns, and could pretty well read her best friend nearly as well as the redhead could read her. She was better at reading Xander because he wasn't nearly as complicated as Willow, she was getting good at reading Dawn but Anya still confused the hell out of her most the time. Spike had always been like Anya, a complete puzzle, never predictable and always keeping her on her toes. That afternoon, though, she felt as if she was finally starting to see a little bit of who he really was, and she had to admit that she liked what she was seeing. He could give Willow the love and happiness that the redhead deserved. She wondered if there were ice storms in Hell yet because she, Buffy the vampire slayer, considered Spike a friend.

"Yeah," Spike nodded, taking an unnecessary breath and letting it out slowly. His blue eyes became determined as he said, "I'm ready. Let's go in."

Buffy followed him into the store, moving towards the door that separated the back room from the rest of the store. "Give me a couple of minutes. I'll send her back and then you two can kiss or talk or whatever."

"I'll be waiting," Spike said as he began to pace, his blue eyes still determined but now also nervous and worried.

Buffy walked into the store, smiling when she saw Dawn at the computer entering inventory numbers. Her sister glanced up and gave her a smile as the teen said, "Hey Buffy! Look, I'm being all helpful and responsible! We just finished the last of the inventory!"

"Finally finished it," Anya groaned as she made a face, "I am so glad that we don't have to do these all the time. I think once a year is more than enough. It took forever!"

"I'm glad you finally got it done," Buffy said with a laugh, her eyes looking around, "So, where's Will?"

"Oh, you missed it!" Dawn saved the numbers and then faced her sister, "She's on her way home, might even be there by now, to talk to Spike! Anya was great! She played the guilty and then flat out called Willow on her love for Spike! It was so cool."

"You're kidding, right?" Buffy asked, the smile fading from her face as she sighed, "Willow is on her way home to talk to Spike?"

"Yeah, she left a few minutes ago," Anya nodded, her eyes narrowing as she saw Buffy's reaction, "and you don't seem happy about that. What's wrong? I thought it would be the best time for them to talk, without anyone else around, to just admit how they felt and then there could be shagging and happiness."

"Oh, it would have been great, but, see, I had a similar idea, except my idea was convincing Spike to finally make a move and coming back here to talk to Willow instead of spending more time over-thinking everything," Buffy said.

"Wait, Spike's not at home?" Dawn asked, her eyes widening as she finally understood what Buffy's problem was.

"Nope, he's in the back room expecting me to send Willow back any minute now so that he can kiss her and make with the smoochies and lovin'," Buffy shook her head.

"Okay, this would be slightly amusing under different circumstances," Anya remarked, "but I will refrain from chuckling over the irony of it until after those two finally admit how they feel and get themselves into a happy relationship, damn it!"

"Come on, Dawn. Get your stuff. We're going to take Spike back home and drop him off and then go see a movie," Buffy decided, "Anya, do you and Xan want to get some dinner and see a movie?"

"Sure," Anya agreed, "We'll meet you at Sophia's in two hours. Is that good?"

"Yep," Buffy nodded, "that gives us time to drop Spike off so he and Willow can have some private time and we'll just do some shopping or something until then."

"We'll see you then," Anya waved as Buffy and Dawn went to the back room.

"Hey, Spike, there's been a slight change in plan," Buffy said as she entered the room, catching his blue eyes and smiling, "It seems that Willow went home to talk to you so we're gonna drop you off and give you guys some alone time to talk or whatever."

"Make with the smoochies," Dawn smiled widely, going over and hugging a startled Spike as she said, "I am so happy that you and Willow have finally realized you're in love!"

"Even Niblet knew?" Spike looked at Buffy and sighed, rolling his eyes, "Guess Red and I need to take lessons in concealing emotion."

"It's okay, Spike. You're great at concealing emotion, just not at keeping your love for Willow hidden," Dawn said with a smile. "Come on, let's stop talking and get you home! I don't want Willow to start worrying because you're not home."

"You heard her, Blondie," Buffy said with a laugh as she went to the door, "let's get you home to Willow so you can make with the smoochies!"

"Smoochies?" Spike repeated, shaking his head as he followed the Summers women to the car, a slight smile crossing his face as he decided he rather liked the idea of having Willow all to himself and being able to just talk to her, kiss her, hold her and never let go. He slid into the back seat, the smile still on his face but his blue eyes curious as he remembered that Buffy had said Willow had returned home to talk to him, wondering what exactly it was that she wanted to talk about.

********************

Willow pulled into the driveway, relieved that Buffy had already left. She didn't really like the idea of talking to Spike and apologizing for her behavior while Buffy was standing there. She had been thinking about everything Dawn and Anya had said since she left the store, having stopped by the grocery store on her way home to buy a gallon of caramel swirl ice cream for Spike, that being one of his favorite flavors. He also liked chocolate, but they already had a gallon of that and she wanted to get him something special just to help make his bad day a little better.

She was now home and no closer to knowing whether or not her friends were right in their belief that Spike loved her. Dawn seemed convinced, providing rather specific examples, but Willow still couldn't believe that someone like Spike could love her. He was gorgeous, sexy, funny, smart, dangerous, and at least two dozen other adjectives that could be used to describe him perfectly. She was just Willow. Was it possible that he felt the same about her? She knew they were friends, had been friends since he had been implanted and reluctantly joined their gang, though the friendship had mostly been casual until Buffy had died, then it had developed into something far more meaningful. They'd talked and learned about each other, began to enjoy spending time together, and she'd fallen in love with him.

With a sigh, she decided that she couldn't put it off any longer. The ice cream was starting to melt and she wasn't doing anything except causing herself to get all freaked out. She'd go in and try to help Spike's day get a little better. Pushing all the thoughts of him supposedly being in love with her and the rather humiliating knowledge that all of her friends appeared to know she was in love with Spike out of her mind, she walked inside, a smile on her face as she entered the house. Not surprisingly, it appeared to be empty. Spike was probably in his room with all the lights off, just being miserable because his day had been less than perfect. She went into the kitchen, putting the ice cream in the freezer before running upstairs to change. If she was planning on spending the remainder of the evening vegging out with Spike and watching cheesy movies, she'd at least be comfortable.

She changed quickly, pulling on an old T-shirt and a pair of shorts before going back downstairs. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a soda before heading down to the basement. She smiled when she saw that the lights were indeed turned off. She flipped the switch on and called out, "Spike, I'm coming down."

She frowned when he didn't respond. Maybe Anya hadn't been exaggerating and Spike really had been upset because she hadn't tried to understand why he was having such a bad day. She sighed as she made her way down the stairs, her green eyes looking towards his bed. He wasn't there. She looked towards the chairs and found them empty, also.

He didn't have a huge amount of space in the basement, the room dominated by the king bed he insisted on having and the remainder of space occupied by two chairs he kept for her and Dawn during their visits downstairs and a table beside his bed. She looked towards the bathroom, seeing the door open, still no Spike. She walked towards his bed, sitting down as she thought about where he might be. Anya had said Buffy was bringing him home. Had he been even more upset with his bad day than they knew and had the slayer take him to the bar? She put her soda on the small table beside his bed, running a hand through her hair as she sighed and tried to figure out where he could be.

Spike entered the house, a smile crossing his face as he realized that Willow was there. He could feel her, her scent in the air. He had just been dropped off by Buffy and Dawn, both girls telling him to quit running from love and to make with the smoochies. He hadn't bothered denying that he was running, too intent on finding Willow and kissing her and finally telling her how he felt. He hated to think of all the time they had wasted. He saw that his door was open, his lips twisting into a knowing smile as he moved towards it. She'd gone downstairs to find him. He paused as he neared the door, doubts again rushing through his mind. Pushing them away, he decided that he wasn't going to think anymore. He was going to find Willow, look into her green eyes, and hope she could see exactly how he felt.

He started downstairs, closing the door behind him. He saw Willow sitting on his bed, stopping as he simply looked at her. Glory, she was beautiful. Even in the old shirt and shorts she was wearing, she was gorgeous. Vibrant hair, sparkling eyes, full lips, graceful neck, breasts that were the perfect fit for his hand, flat stomach, and long legs. He'd wager that her toes were even glorious. He could feel himself hardening as he watched her, listening to her sigh and watching as she chewed on her bottom lip.

He groaned, alerting her to his presence. She looked up, those gorgeous eyes widening when she saw him, awareness flashing in their green depths, and he knew. Moving forward, he stalked her, his eyes keeping her in place. He raised his left hand, moving his fingers along her face before moving them to tangle in her long red hair. He pulled her head back, leaning down and claiming her lips, giving her the explosive, passionate kiss that Buffy had suggested. She gasped when his lips touched hers before she relaxed against him, opening her mouth and kissing him back.

********************

When Willow felt Spike's lips on hers, any doubts that she may have had regarding his feelings for her fled her mind. She had seen the look of love and desire in those gorgeous blue eyes when she'd looked up at hearing the soft groan, she'd watch him walk towards her, no walk wasn't the right word. His eyes had stayed on hers and he'd moved like a hunter after its prey. When he'd reached her, his hand had brushed against her cheek, his eyes searching hers. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, his hand had tangled in her hair and pulled her head back, his lips crashing against hers in the beginnings of a passionate kiss. She'd been startled, but it hadn't taken her long to adapt to the situation. Willow had opened her mouth, allowing him access as her tongue had curled around his.

She'd kissed him back with ever bit of love and lust that she possessed for the handsome blue eyed devil that she loved. Willow stood up, her lips not leaving his as her hands moved behind his back, pulling him closer. Spike's right hand moved down her back until he was caressing her butt. She gasped when he pulled her roughly against him, feeling his erection pressing against her stomach. He took advantage of her gasp, the kiss deepening as his tongue swept over every inch of her mouth, claiming her as his. She wasn't idle, having wanted this kiss for so very long. She moved her hands down to his butt, squeezing his firm ass as their bodies touched, her left hand moving under his shirt to touch his cool flesh. She ran her fingernails along his lower back, listening to him whimper from the slight pain as he pulled her even closer.

The kiss continued for minutes, hands caressing and squeezing and touching, bodies rubbing, tongues clashing, lips meeting. Reluctantly Willow pulled free, sucking in several needed breaths, her green eyes sparkling with desire and need as she looked at Spike, seeing similar emotions in his beautiful blue eyes. Her lips were swollen, wet, begging for another kiss. Spike moved his thumb over her lips, tracing their outline as he tried to collect his thoughts. He had never felt anything like that before, his entire body aroused just from a kiss.

Willow tried to form complete sentences in her head, planning to ask him what was happening, to see if she was right about how he felt, all she managed to say was, "Wow."

"I second that," Spike said softly, his lips curving into a crooked smile as he looked at her. He admitted, "I've been wanting to do that for a long time."

"You have?" Willow asked hopefully.

"God yes," he groaned, his eyes moving along her face as he whispered, "I don't think once is enough, pet. I'm thinking forever won't be enough."

"Oh," she smiled a brilliant smile as she realized that she was right, that Spike did love her and wanted her. She moved her hand from his back to copy his actions, running her hand over his face, tracing his cheekbones as she had so often dreamed of doing. Her entire body was on fire from that one kiss. Her nipples were hard, her breathing ragged, her skin flushed from desire, her panties becoming wet from her need. She traced her finger along his perfect lips, knowing now that they tasted even better than she'd imagined. She moaned when he opened his mouth, his tongue running along her finger, his eyes darkening as he drew her finger into his mouth and began to suck it gently. Oh God, that had to be illegal, she decided as she felt her knees weakening, her body far past the fire now and building to a blazing inferno that only he could help. She moved her hand, her eyes catching his as she confided, "I've wanted you to do that for a long, long time."

"Bloody hell," he cursed softly before he leaned down and caught her lips again, having to kiss her after her admission. He'd been so damn stupid. Caught up in his own fears and insecurities that he'd never seen her love, her desire, so much wasted time. Well, no more. He finally had her in his arms and he was never letting go.

Willow couldn't ever remember feeling this aroused. She had this overwhelming need to feel his body against hers, to keep kissing him until she had to pull away to breathe, to feel him inside her. She was not usually so wanton, sex with Oz having been rather quick and much more for his enjoyment than hers, and sex with Tara being gentle and sweet but never having this need, this love. She wanted Spike, had wanted him forever it seemed, and tonight she was going to finally get him. She had a momentary thought of wondering if it was too soon to become so physical, them just having admitted their feelings and non-verbally at that, but she knew that it was right. They'd had months of foreplay, of teasing, of late nights that left her sweaty and aching for his touch. No, it wasn't too soon at all. It was absolutely perfect. He had mentioned forever, a thought that should have scared her but actually excited and comforted her. She still found it hard to believe that he loved her, that she'd missed seeing his feelings for her all this time, but she knew that it felt right, being with him, being in his arms. She never wanted to leave.

Spike pulled back from the kiss, his blue eyes looking into hers as he asked softly, "What do you want, Willow?"

"I want you, Spike," she replied, voicing her desire, her body feeling as if it would explode with just one touch from him. "I want you inside me...please?"

"Cor," he groaned, kissing her again, whispering, "I love you," against her lips before claiming her mouth. His hand moved under her shirt and up her stomach, his fingers brushing against her ribs until he reached her breasts. He caressed the cotton-covered mounds, his thumb moving over her hard nipple. He heard her whimper of pleasure, pulling back and smiling affectionately.

Willow heard him whisper I love you, her eyes widening at his words but unable to reciprocate because he was kissing her again. Spike had to be the best kisser in the entire world, she decided, perhaps in all of the alternate universes that existed. He wasn't shy, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, teasing her and tasting her, stroking her tongue in a way that made her even more wet as she rubbed her legs together, trying to alleviate a little of the pressure. When she felt his hand on her stomach, she gasped from the contact. He wasn't really cold, vampires seeming to be about room temperature most the time, but he felt like ice against her heated flesh. She whimpered when his hand squeezed her breast, his thumb brushing against her nipple, his hand moving under her bra and pushing the material out of the way until he was touching her, skin against skin.

"Please, Spike," she begged as she tore her mouth from his, her panties beyond soaked by now and all they'd done was kiss with a little groping.

********************

Spike smiled at her, brushing a kiss against her forehead before he grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head. His eyes moved over her body, his tongue running along his bottom lip as he quickly disposed of her bra. He leaned down and caught her breast with his mouth, his tongue playing with her nipple as his hands moved to her shorts. The scent of her arousal was intoxicating, the air thick with the smell of sex and need and sweat and Willow. He felt his erection pressing against the denim of his jeans, doing his best to ignore his own need for release at the moment. This was for Willow, to show her just how much he loved her and to apologize for being too stupid to see it sooner.

"Spike!" Willow gasped as she felt his hands push her shorts and panties down, his left hand moving between her legs and brushing against her dripping pussy. She couldn't believe she was standing naked before him and he was still fully clothed. She would have asked him to remove his own clothes so that she could see him but she was to the point where one syllable words were all that she could mutter, "Please. I need you."

"Shh, luv," he whispered, his lips curved into a smug smile as he listened to her rapid heartbeat, smelled the scent of her arousal, felt the sweat dripping down her body, knowing that he was the cause of her need, that he was the one she wanted. He'd never been with someone that only wanted him, that was with him because of love and desire, that accepted him completely. He moved his mouth from her breast, licking a path down her stomach, sucking her flesh and nipping it with his teeth as he continued to tease her with his hand, never touching her where she needed to be touched. She was having trouble standing, wavering more and more the lower he got. When he reached her belly button, running his tongue into the indention, she put a hand on his shoulder to keep her balance. At this point, she was cursing him with one breath and begging him with the next. He pushed her back against the bed, knowing it would be far more comfortable for her as well as giving him the room to tease her at his leisure.

Willow fell back against his bed, landing with a soft sigh. She was going to kill him if he didn't stop playing. She needed him, wanted him. She cried out when she felt his tongue lazily lick her folds. Her hands fell to either side of her, clenching the blanket as he began to taste her. She arched up against his face, feeling his hands on her butt as he pulled her down the bed so that he could reach her better. Willow looked down and saw his blue eyes watching her, amazed to see such love and devotion in his eyes mixed with pure hunger. His lips curled into a smirk that she knew all too well and that caused a fresh wave of desire to spread over her body. As she watched, he blew her a kiss before lowering his head and beginning his feast. She moaned as her head fell back, her eyes staring at the ceiling as his tongue and his fingers began to tease her. She screamed his name and came loudly when he sucked her clit, her entire world exploding as she finally found release. He kept right on tasting, his slim finger pushing between her lips, his thumb replacing his mouth on her swollen nub as he worked her into another mind-blowing orgasm. She gasped for breath as he still continued to tease her, one of her hands letting go of the blanket to knead her breast as she began to push down against his fingers, twisting her nipple as she felt another orgasm approaching. This time when she came she cried out, "I love you, Spike," before she collapsed back on the bed, her body covered in a sheen of sweat.

Spike heard her say the words, his blue eyes flashing with happiness as he sat up and quickly removed his shirt. He kicked his boots off and worked on the buttons of his jeans, shedding the denim as fast as he could. He stood up, his cock hard and aching, his blue eyes looking over her beautiful body. His left hand moved over his erection, pumping several times as he felt her looking at him. His eyes caught hers and he smiled at the appreciative look that was in her eyes.

"You're gorgeous," Willow whispered as she looked at him, moving from his face down his neck past the well muscled chest and the flat stomach to, her eyes widened as she saw him, wondering how she was going to take all of him. She hadn't been with a man in years, and then it had only been a few times with Oz and she could clearly see that her former boyfriend definitely wasn't in the same league with Spike when it came to physical attributes. To be perfectly crass, Spike was very well hung. He was thick and longer than the guy that had starred in the porno movie that she and Buffy had watched during one sleepover back in high school and she'd thought that guy was huge!

"It'll fit, luv," he said softly, knowing what she was thinking as she looked at his cock. He was only a bit above average in size, but he had a feeling that his size was a bit frightening for her. He'd have to go slow, he realized, knowing that she hadn't had a man before, refusing to think of the mutt that had hurt her as anything other than a foolish boy.

"I trust you," she said with a smile as she licked her lips and spread her legs slightly, giving him a pretty good idea what she wanted now.

"Hussy," he laughed softly as he moved to the bed, getting between her legs and running the length of his cock against her wet lips.

"Only with you, Spike," she said truthfully, not at all embarrassed by his teasing. She was being a hussy, but she wanted him so much, needed him inside her.

"Forever, luv," he whispered as he began to enter her, stretching her more than she'd ever been stretched before. He listened to her noises, loving how vocal she was with her love and desire. When he was finally inside her, he stayed in place to allow her time to adjust to his thickness, laying against her and kissing her again. When he felt her start to move against him, he knew she was ready. He began to move slowly at first, pulling out and sinking back deeply. Her fingernails were scraping his back as they began to move faster, her breasts against his chest as they kissed, his lips moving from her mouth to her cheeks to her neck. He wanted to claim her, needed to bite her and mark her for the entire world to see, but he didn't know if the chip would allow it. He sucked her flesh into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue, as he thrust into her. The room was silent except for the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and the noises that Willow made. Spike groaned when she tightened around him, nuzzling her neck as he began to move even faster, feeling his release approaching. His left hand moved between their bodies, finding her clit and twisting, wanting her to find release with him.

"Bite me, Spike. Make me yours," Willow begged as she moved her head to the side, knowing that he wanted to claim her by the special attention he'd given her neck for the last few minutes, hoping that he'd be able to since she had asked for it. She wanted his mark on her, wanted everyone to know that she belonged to him and he belonged to her. She moved her mouth over his shoulder, biting down as hard as she could when she felt her orgasm approaching. She heard his cry of pleasure right before his teeth entered her neck and his seed spilled into her grasping pussy. She released his shoulder as she gasped for breath, clinging to Spike as he drank from her.

"Mine," he whispered as he pulled back from her neck, finding her mouth and kissing her again as he stayed inside her. He ended the kiss, his eyes looking into hers as they both smiled a satisfied smile. He brushed her sweaty hair away from her face, saying the words he'd feared saying for so very long, that he had whispered earlier, that he needed her to hear from him, "I love you, Willow."

"I love you, too, Spike," she replied softly as she kissed him gently, knowing how difficult it had to have been for him to tell her how he felt. She snuggled closer to him, admitting, "That was...wow."

"Yeah," Spike agreed as he finally pulled out of her, moving to lay beside her as he pulled her into his arms. He pulled the sides of the blanket over them, snuggling against her as he got them into a comfortable position.

"Kinda sleepy now," Willow said as she relaxed into his embrace.

"We can take a nap," Spike suggested as he nuzzled her neck, his tongue running along the length of his claim as they eventually both drifted off to sleep.

********************

Spike slowly woke up, his blue eyes adjusting to the darkness as he felt a warm body pressed against his. He glanced down, a large smile crossing his handsome face when he saw Willow laying in his arms. It hadn't been another dream. She was really there, in his bed. They'd really spent hours shagging and she really did love him. He watched her sleep, his fingers moving out to touch her face tenderly, not wanting to wake her.

He couldn't believe that his horrible, dreadful, awful day had become the best day of his life. It had been worth the few problems that morning and afternoon to realize that he loved Willow, to have her in his arms, in his bed, and to be the lucky recipient of her love. She was now not only his best friend but also his lover, his mate. There were no worries about the slayer's reaction or the risk of her losing any of her silly friends because they had known the truth long before he or Willow had realized it. Hell, the slayer had not only encouraged his pursuit of Willow, she'd given him the course of action that had successfully proved his feelings for the redhead when he'd been too scared to say the words.

He felt Willow shift, knew she was starting to wake up. He wondered what time it was, his eyes moving to look at his clock but finding that it wasn't there. Oh, yeah, he'd thrown it across the room earlier that morning when the blasted alarm wouldn't stop. Hadn't bothered plugging it back in. He stretched as best he could without disturbing Willow, wishing he'd put the clock back. He looked around the room, locating the clock radio near the corner of the room. He'd get it plugged back in when Willow woke up, he decided. Suddenly, he frowned as he stared at the radio. Turning on the lamp beside the bed, he looked back at the clock and narrowed his eyes, trying to remember what had happened. He felt Willow stirring beside him, glancing down as she opened her eyes and stretched, a soft smile crossing her face as she looked at him.

"Hey," she said as she saw that Spike was awake already.

"Hey back," he smiled before kissing her.

"Spike, I've got sleepy mouth," Willow laughed softly as she pushed him away, having not had a chance to rinse her mouth or brush her teeth.

"Do ye think I care?" he asked with a smirk before moving back in to kiss her.

"Hmm," Willow gave him a loving look when he ended the kiss, "I love waking up this way."

"I'm sorry," Spike said suddenly.

"Sorry?" Willow looked at him in surprise.

"For accusing you of setting my alarm," he explained quickly, not wanting her to think that he was apologizing for what had happened between them.

"Oh, that," Willow smiled in relief, "It's okay, but I didn't do it."

"I know," he smiled sheepishly as he admitted, "I just realized that I set it accidentally after Dawn left last night. I was annoyed with the music and pushed the little button over to off but evidently pushed it farther."

"You're the one that set the alarm?" Willow started to laugh, watching as he rolled his eyes at her amusement, "You do know that I am so telling everyone that it was your fault, don't you? Going around and accusing innocent people like that..."

The rest of her words were caught by his kiss. Pulling back, he smirked at her as he said, "If it wasn't for that alarm being set, I wouldn't have had such a horrible morning and I wouldn't have ended up at the store for Bitchy and Slutty to interfere and try to play matchmaker and we wouldn't have ended up admitting how we felt so I guess, in a way, that I'm responsible for us ending up here."

"You're impossible," Willow giggled as she snuggled against him, "blaming everyone but yourself for all the bad stuff but wanting to take all the credit for the good stuff."

"Well, I guess I can acknowledge that Slutty and Bitchy deserve just a little bit of credit," he relented before adding, "but I think you and I deserve the most credit."

"I won't argue with that," Willow agreed as she leaned over and kissed him. She laid her head against his chest as he held her asking, "So, Spike, did your horrible day ever improve?"

"You know it did, luv," he smiled as she looked up and smiled at him. He sighed dramatically as he said, "You do realize that we owe all of this to that God awful song, don't you? I'll never be able to hear it again without thinking about shagging you and waking up with you in my arms."

"What song?" Willow asked, her green eyes curious.

"Walking on sunshine," he groaned, listening to her laugh and smiling as he kissed her again, his hands moving along her body as they soon forgot the horrible song that had started his previously bad, awful, terrible day that had turned into the best day of his life so far. They were in love and had forever to be happy together.

THE END