Father of the Brat

Disclaimer: I don't own anything affiliated with Buffy. It all belongs to Joss Whedon. I just borrow it. I'm not making any money from this, it's purely for fun.

A/N: I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to update! I've had a serious case of writer's block since April though! How insane is that? Not to mention, there's all kinds of stuff happening in RL and my college's stupid financial aid office isn't helping. (Sorry, just found out they made a mistake with my financial aid...sheesh.) Anyway, for those of you who have been keeping up with this story, thank you so much! And for those of you who are just starting to read this, I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to please review!


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Spike let out a weary sigh as he and Buffy walked into his apartment. Ashearheard the click of the door shutting, he shook his head and dropped onto the couch, closing his eyes. When he felt the shift of the cushions next to him, he opened them and turned to look at Buffy.

He didn't see how it was possible that they hadn't found Dawn. They'd looked in all the places that Spike could think of and Buffy had made a few suggestions for places she could be. She hadn't been at a single one of them.

"You think she's okay?" he asked quietly. Buffy gave him a reassuring smile and nodded, reaching out to rest her hand on his knee.

"Yeah. I do." She told him. Spike stared at her another moment as if trying to see how truthful she was being before he nodded. He figured that Buffy was one of those people who would tell him the flat out truth and not try to spare his feelings. If she said she thought Dawn was okay, then she meant it.

"So, what made you hate me in high school?" Spike suddenly asked. Buffy looked at him, a bit startled.

"What?" she replied. "Hate you? What makes you think I hated you?" Spike rolled his eyes a bit.

"Oh, I don't know. It could've been when you said, 'Spike, I hate you.' But that's just a theory."

Buffy sighed and shook her head. "If we go with that theory then I suppose I could ask you the same thing since you responded with something along the lines of 'Hate you too, Goldilocks.'" She said. Spike let out a small laugh and Buffy felt a smile coming over her face in return. "I never hated you, Spike. I thought you were one of the most annoying people in the world and sometimes I really wanted to smack you, but I never hated you."

"Yeah?" Spike asked. When Buffy nodded, he gave her a grin. "Same goes, pet." It was silent for awhile until Spike broke the quiet once more. "Can I ask you something then?" Buffy turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow slightly in question. "If you didn't hate me in high school, why'd you run away after I kissed you?"

Buffy's eyes widened. "What?" she asked, her voice coming out in little more than a whisper. Spike just looked at her.

"Why'd you run after I kissed you?"

Buffy swallowed a bit nervously and licked her lips. When Spike's gaze followed the movement, Buffy gave herself a mental slap.

~Bad move, Buffy. No drawing attention to your lips!~

Spike looked back up at Buffy, noticing that she had the look odeerdeer caught in headlights. He could tell, just by looking at her that she was debating with herself on whether or not she should tell him. And he could tell she was remembering that night just as clearly as he was.

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Sunnydale High, Prom Night

Spike needed to get outside, get some air. Badly. Because if he had to listen to Harmony prattle on about going to France for one more second he was going to go insane.

Why had he taken her to prom? Spike wondered as he walked out of the gym and into the night air, the music becoming a bit muted as he did. Right, now he remembered. Because the girl he'd been all set to ask had had to go out of town for a funeral. So he really wasn't going to complain about that since it wasn't her fault.

And there was no way Spike would ever admit that he had even considered asking Buffy Summers.

He wasn't even going to acknowledge that thought.

Xander, on the other hand, had had no problem asking her. Buffy and Xander had decided to go to the prom together.as friends.

Spike leaned back against the wall, thinking of her. She'd worn a green dress that looked simple compared to a lot of the other dresses there. She looked better than most of the other girls there.

That was another thought that Spike wasn't going to acknowledge.

He shook his head. Never going to admit to that one.

This thought process was interrupty thy the door opening behind him. He turned to find Buffy walking outside. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to notice him.

He watched as she lifted her head, finally spotting him. She froze.

"Spike." She said, obviously startled. "What are you doing out here?"

"Could ask the same of you, pet. But since you asked first, I'll answer you. I came with Harmony." He said as explanation. "Need I say more?" Buffy smiled, laughing a bit.

"No. You don't." She looked over at him. "To answer your question, it was getting way too crowded in there. I had to come out here, get some air."

Spike nodded in understanding. "Yeah.too many bloody people." He sighed. "And more than half of them are morons." He added.

Buffy raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. This was the first time in weeks that she and Spike had talked without exchanging some sort of insult. She wasn't about to spoil it. It was kind of peaceful. In a weird sort of way.

Silence fell over the two as they stood by each other, leaning against the wall together. It was probably some of the most peaceful moments that they'd ever spent together.

Spike glanced over at Buffy, turning a bit to study her. She looked rather pretty, standing there, the shadows played over her face. He wasn't about to admit that he had looked at her before and thought her pretty. But tonight she looked pretty in a different way tonight. Maybe it was because he wasn't used to seeing her all dressed up like that.

He continued to study her and a slight smile appeared on his face. Buffy felt his gaze on her and turned to look at him, confusion on her face.

"What?" she asked softly. Spike shook his head.

"Nothing. I was just thinking.you're nice to look at, that's all." He replied. She looked a bit startled, like she wasn't used to hearing that. And he supposed she wasn't, considering he never really saw her dating any one particular guy.

"Oh." She started to turn back around when he reached out and stopped her. She looked back up at him, confusion reflected clearly in her eyes. And she couldn't help but notice that his eyes seemed to stand out even more in this light.

"Buffy." he started. He shook his head as he continued to look down at her. Buffy licked her lips a bit nervously as neither one of them said anything. Slowly, he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers briefly. He pulled back slightly before lowering his head once more and pressing his lips against hers. Buffy let out a small breath as he continued to kiss her. She lifted one hand, placing it on his arm.

As Spike pulled back, Buffy stared up at him, a range of emotions flying across her face. She stepped back from him quickly.

"What.what was that?" she asked. Spike just stared at her for a bit, not knowing why he had kissed her but knowing that he wanted to do it again. He shook his head again.

"I.I don't know." He said. He reached for her once more. Buffy took another step back and shook her head quickly as she stared up at him.

"I have to go." She finally said in ft vft voice.

"What?" he asked. She took another step back from him as he stepped towards her. "Buffy, wait."

Without answering, Buffy turned and ran back inside, leaving Spike staring after her.

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Spike stared at Buffy expectantly, waiting for her answer. Buffy swallowed, trying to clear her throat as she remembered that night.

"Because.because it freaked me out, alright? I mean, all we ever did was fight and then on prom night you kiss me out of nowhere. And I didn't know why." Buffy paused. "Why did you kiss me?"

Spike shifted. "I don't know. I didn't then and I still don't, really. It was just.you looked pretty, standing there in the shadows and it made me want to kiss you."

Buffy let out a light laugh. "Yeah, I guess it would have to be a bit dark to make you want to kiss me, huh?"

Spike turned to look at her and shook his head. "You really believe that, don't you?" he asked softly. When Buffy didn't say anything, Spike shook his head once more. "You do, don't you?" He moved closer to her, causing her gaze to shoot up to his. "No, Buffy, I didn't want to kiss you because you were in the dark." He reached out and brushed a hand down her face. "As you can see, this room is perfectly well lit. And I still want to kiss you." Keeping his eyes on hers, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Immediately, Buffy relaxed into the kiss, her hands going up to Spike's shoulders. She shifted closer, pressing herself against Spike as his hands slid around her waist. Buffy let out a moan as she felt his tongue slide against hers, sweep through her mouth. Spike's arms tightened around her as she returned the favor.

It was only the need for air that caused Spike to pull away from Buffy. He was pretty sure that if he didn't have to breathe, he would've just kept on kissing her.

"Buffy." he murmured against her mouth. He started to pull away and Buffy's hands tightened on his shoulders to stop him.

"No." she said softly. Spike looked down at her, questioningly. She stared back at him, the answer clear in her eyes.

"What are you saying, love?" he asked. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she continued to look in his eyes.

"I'm saying that I don't have any doubts. And I'm not going to."

Spike felt like the air had just left his body as he realized what she was saying, that she was referring to what he had said about being with her. Slowly, a smile spread across his face and he leaned forward to press his mouth to hers, pushing her back into the cushions.