Here Without You

Buffy woke the next morning and couldn't help but smile. She was facing away from William, however she could feel his arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace. She carefully rolled over so that she could face him. His eyes were closed but would flutter slightly every now and then. He's dreaming, Buffy thought to herself as she reached up to outline his sharp cheekbones with her finger. William flinched a little when she made contact with his skin. Buffy laughed quietly as she continued her ministrations. She was tracing the cool lines of his lips when his eyes opened slightly.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." she whispered.

"Mmm," he moaned. "Dreamin'," he said as he closed his eyes.

"No baby, I'm here" she replied, reaching up and kissing his eyelids.

William took this opportunity to roll her on top of him. His eyes were now wide open and he was looking at her with a deep, passionate gaze.

"I thought you were sleeping." Buffy said in a scolding tone.

"I was," William defended himself." You woke me from a very pleasant dream," he replied with a smirk.

"Oh, I'm sorry honey, I'll let you- ahh," Her reply was cut short as William reached up and cupped her full breast in his hand.

"I thought that you could make it up to me." William looked up at her, his eyes dark with lust.

"I-I thought that you would have had your fill last night." Buffy groaned and leaned into his touch as he continued his attentions on her breast.

"I could never get enough of you." William pulled Buffy into a passionate, lingering kiss. When he finally released her so that she could breathe he lifted her blue silk tank top over her head and discarded it. He pulled her down again, taking her left breast into his mouth.

"I want you, Spike," Buffy whispered as she ran her hands through his hair. She then reached between their bodies to trace the outline of his throbbing erection through his boxers. "Now."

With that William rolled over so that he was on top of her. With one hand he traced the soft outlines of her face while he pushed his boxers down, freeing himself with the other. He gently kissed her on the lips and whispered softly, "I need to put on a condom, luv."

"No," she shook her head. "Just pull out when it's time."

William hesitated for only a moment, and then nodded when he saw the desire etched on her face. He had never made love to her unprotected before and the thought excited him beyond belief. He entered her slowly enjoying the feel of her surrounding him. Once he was completely inside, he paused for a moment allowing her to adjust, and to savor the feel of his skin against hers. When he couldn't stand it anymore he began to move in her slowly. Their lovemaking seemed to last for hours. Buffy met Spike thrust for thrust, clutching his shoulders and raining soft kisses down his neck. He felt the first wave of her orgasm hit when her inner walls clenched around him and he quickened his pace.

"I love you so much," She whispered as she climaxed again and again.

The feel of her trembling beneath him was too much for William to bear and he soon followed her over the edge, crying out her name. They lay in each other’s arms, still trembling from the aftershock of their lovemaking.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Buffy entered "The Taco Stand", a popular restaurant right across the street from campus.

"Buffy," the small redhead exclaimed, waving from her booth in the back of the restaurant. "Over here."

"Hey guys." Buffy slid into her seat across from Willow Rosenberg and her long time girlfriend Tara McClay. Willow and Tara had been dating seriously for the past year and six months. Like Buffy and Spike, their relationship had been mostly long-distance when Tara left for college last year.

"How was your move, Will?" Buffy asked with a grin on her face.

"Terrible," the redhead replied. "My mother is all on this ‘Menstrual life-force equals power’ thingy and made Tara and I move all of the big stuff ourselves. I'm not talking about just the boxes, I mean everything. Furniture and all." Willow finished gesturing madly with her hands.

"Sounds like fun," Buffy said dryly.

"It sucked!" Willow affirmed.

"So how are things with you and William?" Tara asked, smiling. "I bet he's on Cloud Nine, he was so miserable last year without you."

"Really good so far, and no, I'm not giving details." Buffy finished when she saw the devilish grin on Tara's face.

"Oh come on," Willow teased. "We don't need a diagram or anything, just maybe a blurry watercolor," she giggled, wagging her eyebrows.

"No way." Buffy quickly changed the subject. "I wonder if the loft guys are going to be done by the time William gets back to the room."

"You are going to love the loft Buffy," Tara said. “It frees up so much space in the room, you won't recognize it. Where is William anyway?"

"He had a meeting at the fraternity house," Buffy quickly answered. "I just hope that it looks as good as it did in the pictures they had in their brochures. The only downside is I kinda haven't told William how much it's going to cost," Buffy said with a guilty look.

"Uh-oh," Willow and Tara replied in unison.

"Yeah, that's gonna be two hundred dollars worth of unpleasant. I hope it's a funny aneurysm," Buffy half joked.

"Do you think he's going to flip out?" Willow asked, giving Buffy her worried face.

"My hope is that the room will look so good that he'll think it's worth every penny,” said Buffy, trying to reassure herself. "He was really unhappy with the size of the room when he first saw it so- " she trailed off thinking of what his reaction would be. She hoped that he wouldn't be too angry.

"I'm sure he won't be mad.” Willow smiled sheepishly at her friend. "For now I say we stuff ourselves with taco type goodness and girl talk.” Willow nodded her head to emphasize her words.

The three friends shared happy conversation as they ate their dinner. They talked of classes and probed Tara for everything she knew about their future professors. When they had had their fill they said their goodbyes, and Willow and Tara got into Willow's car and headed back to their apartment. Buffy walked back through the arches leading to North Campus and her dorm.

When Buffy opened the door to room 120 she could hardly believe her eyes. There was William standing in the middle of the room unpacking boxes and arranging knick-knacks. The curtain that served as the closet door was drawn aside and she could see that he had already unpacked and separated their clothes and hung them neatly in place. There were pictures accenting the walls and he had even hung her peach curtains. The loft had been successfully put up and Buffy noted that Tara had been right about not recognizing the room. If William were not there Buffy would have thought herself to be in the wrong place. The bunk beds had been taken down and one of them had been removed. There were wooden supports nailed into the wall supporting the bed that was now suspended off of the floor. The workmen had left them a ladder to use for climbing in and out of the make shift loft.

"You're decorating?” Buffy asked as she stepped into the room.

"Well yeah,” William answered looking up at her. "What can I say, I met a decorator once. Maybe something stuck."

"I hope this was a decorator of the male persuasion?” Buffy commented coyly.

"Oh yeah, I think he was hitting on me at the time.” William smirked, "I told him right quick that my heart belonged to the prettiest bird in Sunnydale, California. Although, I did tell him not to worry and I'd give him my number anyway, because after you, I'd be sworn off from women forever."

"Oh my God!" Buffy exclaimed giggling. "You gave a gay man your number."

"Nah I gave him Xander's; thought it'd be funny."

Buffy started to laugh hysterically. She walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. He held onto her shoulders and took in her scent, marveling at her beauty. When she had calmed down she looked up into his eyes.

"William, I need to talk to you for a second.” Buffy took William by the hand and sat him down in his recliner. She then took a seat in his lap and began to run her fingers through his hair. "There's something that I need to tell you, and I've been kinda avoid-y when it comes to the subject-"

"You're about to tell me about the two hundred dollars aren't you?” William looked up at her face and laughed at her look of surprise. "The workmen were here when I got home, said they quoted you two hundred over the phone the other day."

"I was totally going to tell you. I just didn't want to overload you. You know, after the move and all.” Buffy explained.

"Luv, it's not something that would have bothered me. You know that I'm not one that worries about money and such."

Buffy nodded in agreement.

"I don't, however, want you to keep secrets from me. We're in this together Buffy. We’re not just roommates, we’re lovers and that means we don't keep things from each other. Okay?"

"Okay," Buffy agreed hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Oh, I'm going to let you make it up to me pet," William replied wrapping his arms around her.

"Yay." Buffy smiled and leaned in to kiss him. William pulled away only slightly, but enough for Buffy to get the hint. She saw the look in his eyes and knew that he did not mean what she thought. "What?"

"I wasn't talking about sex you little vixen, not that I'm refusing." He smiled wagging his eyebrows. "What I want you to do is really simple."

"What is it?" she asked getting impatient.

"I want you to come clean with your mum about us living together,”

William answered, giving her his most serious resolve face. "Will you do that?"

"Yes," Buffy replied. "I'll tell her tomorrow."