Slipping out of bed, Buffy made her way across the room to touch him gently on the shoulder. He looked up and she saw the hesitation in his face, the certainty she was going to take back what she'd said the night before. "Come to Rome, Spike. Live with me and be my love and however the rest of the poem goes."

The joy lighting up his face made the leap worth it, but she knew she wasn't going to let go of the breath she was holding until he answered her. "It's a bloody stupid poem," he said with his usual irritating smugness.

"Is that a yes?"

"Do you love me?"

That was the big question, she knew. This time, it was easy to answer. "I do. I love you, Spike."

He watched her for a moment, then scooped her into his arms. This time, there was no pulling back and Buffy knew that laying low was going to be no hardship at all.

***

"Still want to take some time off?" Angel asked. It was the first chance they'd had to speak since Spike had returned to Los Angeles forty-eight hours before. As he'd expected, Wymere had come hunting for the crystal and hadn't been at all happy to discover he'd had his attention misdirected. There'd been a skirmish, but with the crystal on the other side of the Atlantic, Wymere had chosen not to throw his forces away for mere vengeance. There'd be trouble later; that was a certainty.

"Actually, I think I'm going to have to hand in my notice."

Angel looked at him long and hard. "You're going to Rome, aren't you?"

Spike couldn't help grinning. "How did you guess?"

"You don't look like you want to go get drunk, for one thing. Did she ask or are you just following?"

"She asked." The words came out not with triumph, but with the tenderness he felt every time he thought of Buffy.

"Will you stay away from her if I ask?"

"Not a chance, mate. No way am I letting this one slip through my fingers."

"Well..." Spike waited through a long broody silence for Angel to speak again. "I never thought I'd say this, but you'll be missed."

Spike felt genuinely touched. Then Angel added, "And if you hurt her..."

"I know; you'll stake me good and proper. Get in line; I think there'll be a few people ahead of you."

***

"And it wasn't too difficult?" Giles asked. The crystal had been destroyed the night before and they were seated in his office so she could deliver her report and present the receipts for the expense account.

"It was long," Buffy said, "and I thought I lost him in Atlanta, but I caught a lucky break, which was what led me to New Orleans."

She wasn't mentioning Spike; she'd warned him she wasn't going to tell them before she left because she didn't want her friends panicking before he even got there. They'd tell them in a few months, she'd promised, after he'd gotten settled in, but for a while she wanted it to be just the two of them...and Dawn, of course.

That was the most worrisome part of the whole thing; she hadn't told Dawn yet because she couldn't picture giving her news like this over the phone. She was flying home that afternoon after nearly a week in London officially decompressing, so the big reveal was only hours away. All of that made it a bit difficult to sit here and casually spin the altered tale of her adventures in the States.

Her suspicions that Giles had known Spike was alive had been confirmed shortly after her arrival when she'd casually mentioned she'd passed the Margaret Mitchell museum and remembered Spike telling her how exciting Atlanta had been when Hollywood (and Spike and Drusilla) came to town for the premiere of Gone With the Wind. Never mind that he'd only told her the story while driving back to Atlanta, where they'd decided she should get a flight back to London, thus avoiding the possibility of running into any henchmen Wymere might have posted at the airport after he'd left; she made it sound like nostalgia. The glasses had been removed and the handkerchief had come out, a sure sign there was something Giles didn't want to see or admit.

Since then, she'd felt a bit on pins and needles, aching to get away but unwilling to alert Giles to the possibility that something was up. When the phone rang, she thought she was going scream, frustrated by the idea of just sitting while Giles handled whatever business awaited him on the other end of the line.

The business on the other end of the line turned out to be Willow calling from San Paulo instead of Rio for once and Giles put her on speakerphone so Buffy could participate. "You were in New Orleans and didn't tell me?" Willow said upon hearing the very short version of what Buffy had been up to. "I wish you'd called; I would have flown up so we could see each other."

"It would have been a little difficult," Buffy replied. "Lots of running and fighting, then getting on a plane and getting the crystal back here. There wasn't really time for a visit and you know that Kennedy and my fighting styles don't mesh."

"Oh. Well, Kennedy's in Rio for a week or two, so she wouldn't have been coming along. No biggie; she's just taking care of some business."

Giles and Buffy looked at each other fully aware of what that meant: there'd been a fight and Willow and Kennedy were in the cooling off period. Willow didn't give them a chance to say anything, rushing right along. "So, Atlanta and New Orleans. I've never been to either and they're supposed to be gorgeous. Let me guess; you didn't get to sight-see."

"Saw the St. Louis cemetery -- the one where they buried the voodoo woman. Of course, it was at night and I wasn't there to see the gravestones, but it was kinda neat. Some of the tombs were bigger than anything we had in Sunnydale. I mean, there was one that was so big, you could have fit two of Spike's crypt inside."

Buffy hadn't actually meant to drop that reference in, but the Italian Mutual Benevolent Society Tomb really had been big and impressive and the comparison seemed an obvious one. Willow suddenly changed the subject, though, sounding more than a little nervous...and more than a little like she was hiding something. Did she know too? Giles was looking a touch uncomfortable, which could well mean he was worried she was giving too much away, although it could be he just didn't want to listen to Willow babble.

He let the torrent of words flow for about a minute before cutting in. "I hate to bring this back to business, but Buffy does have to leave soon as she's got a flight back to room this afternoon." He smiled at her. "I think she might have someone waiting for her, since she's seemed a bit anxious to be gone."

The idea that maybe she hadn't dissembled as well she'd thought brought a momentary flood of panic. How had Giles found out? Had they been watched? Was he just trying to avoid telling her he heartily disapproved of Spike?

"Really? Have you met someone, Buffy?" Willow sounded very enthusiastic. "That's really great. I'd been hoping you would, because we were worried that what with S..."

"Willow? Business. Now." Giles voice was abrupt, cutting off whatever Willow was going to say. If she hadn't known, Buffy might not have noticed the bobble, but now it seemed to scream at her, strengthening her decision to keep her own counsel.

If Willow knew, it was likely Xander knew. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if Wood and Faith knew; Andrew had probably spilled the beans to everyone except her and Dawn...and they'd decided to keep it from her.

If she confronted them about this, she doubted either Giles or Willow would deny it, though Willow would probably babble for five minutes before fessing up. What she didn't want to hear was that they'd done it "for her own good."

But she wasn't going to confront them because she didn't want to let them know Spike was coming to Rome. It was going to be one hell of a roller coaster as it was; they definitely needed some time to work things out before letting her friends know.

Willow finished up and Giles ended the phone call. "I'm a bit worried about her," he said. "These fights have been happening more and more often."

"Willow and Kennedy need to settle it between them," Buffy said. "They're the ones who really count where their relationship is concerned." Just as she and Spike were the ones who counted in their relationship.

She realized she was smiling at the thought of him and looked across the desk to find Giles looking at her fondly. "I shouldn't keep you any longer," he said quietly. "It's been three weeks since you've been home and it's time you went back."

He wasn't going to address the boyfriend issue directly and she was content to let it lie for the moment. She knew Giles wanted her happy; hopefully when he discovered who made her happy, he'd accept that.

Giles drove her to the airport and saw her off, waving as she disappeared behind the security barrier. She waved a final time before heading down the concourse, her thoughts turning almost immediately to home. The secrets would keep for another day.

She'd booked this flight with the idea that she and Dawn would have plenty of time at the airport, but there were delays and twenty minutes turned into an hour, which turned into two which turned into almost three and Buffy realized her margin was getting eaten up. "Of course you're delayed," Dawn said when Buffy called to let her know. "You're coming home. Don't worry, I'll be there on time."

Time was exactly what she was worried about, but Buffy knew she'd have to make do with what she was given. She spent the two hours of the flight practicing what she'd say to Dawn once they were on the ground, but as the plane pulled into the terminal, she still didn't think she was ready.

Dawn was waiting for her in the Arrivals area, looking none the worse for wear for three weeks without semi-adult supervision. They hugged fiercely. "You're probably starving," Dawn said. "I'm pretty sure they didn't give you decent food."

"I am, but..." Buffy glanced up at the board. Air France Flight 9480 had landed just a few minutes ago. "We need to go meet someone."

"Meet someone?" Dawn's longer legs easily kept up with Buffy's hurried steps as they hurried down the length of Terminal C toward Terminal B. "You didn't tell me someone was coming in."

It wasn't until they were at the arrivals area of the other terminal that Buffy actually spoke, despite Dawn's insistence. "I didn't know how to tell you over the phone. It's just so amazing...Spike's alive, Dawn. He's alive and he's coming here to Rome. We ran into each other in Atlanta and, well..."

She could feel her heart full near to bursting. "I'm in love with him, Dawn. I love him, he loves me and we're going to try to make a go of it. I hate springing this on you, but his flight's come in and he'll be here soon and I'd wanted to tell you except the stupid flight was delayed, so now it's all a rush. Mad at me?"

Dawn looked shocked. "Spike's alive? How?"

"The amulet he wore. It's a long story and has to do with Angel and his evil lawyers -- his evil ex-lawyers, actually, since he's not working with them anymore. He'll tell you all about it; I don't know all the details yet because everything happened so quickly."

She broke off, not certain what else to say. She could tell her about the others knowing and keeping it from them, but she didn't want anger at this moment. People were starting to come down the concourse, bags in hand, the first wave of passengers off the Air France flight. Maybe they shouldn't have done it like this, shouldn't have coordinated so closely, but it'd been the earliest she'd been able to come home and he hadn't wanted to arrive before her or wait too long to follow. How he'd managed to make certain he'd not only taken off and landed after the sun had set, but arranged to change planes in Paris in darkness as well, she wasn't at all sure, but she looked forward to hearing the story.

Dawn was starting to fidget at her side, straining on tiptoe to look as far down the concourse as she could. "I don't believe you did this to me. I'd have cleaned up if I'd known and the girls are fixing a late dinner to welcome you home. Oh, and I definitely would have aired your sheets."

Buffy didn't mind the running diatribe; she, too, was focused on the disembarking passengers and she felt him before she saw him, the special little tickle that said "vampire" and quickly resolved into "Spike." Then he was there in front of her, a smile on his face as he headed through the gate and into her arms. Dawn quickly got pulled into the hug and Buffy didn't mind at all. Right now, at this moment, she knew with a certainty that she was home.

They held hands as they followed Dawn out to the car, neither speaking as she babbled on. Just for a moment, though, as they stepped outside into the night air, he pulled her close and kissed her.

Definitely home.

The End

April 19-April 25, 2004

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