Chapter Summary: None of the Scoobies, save Giles, is going to be able to make it to the hospital. Buffy is at Spike's crypt to invite him to come sit with them and to tell him how she feels. Things go a little wacky though when the "space cadet" blonde Vampiress, Harmony, interrupts them. Will Harmony be kicked to the curb or simply dusted?

'Just great.' Spike thought to himself. 'Harmony would have to come up here and ruin this moment.' Buffy and Spike sat still in the armchair looking at Harmony who looked like she was going to hurl, explode, or both.

Buffy kept looking back and forth between Spike and Harmony with wide eyes. She knew that Harmony was still living here based on what Spike said earlier. She hadn't expected the Vampiress to be bold enough to come upstairs while they were together.

Spike looked more annoyed with Harmony as each moment passed. His hands firmly on Buffy's waist, he glared at Harmony. "I thought I told you not to come up here while I was here."

Harmony looked like she was going to kill the next thing she came into contact with. Spike's favorite blood mug was sitting on the mini-fridge next to her. She shoved it with such force that she sent it flying into the wall of the crypt. It shattered back out into the room, shards nearly hitting the stunned couple in the chair. Spike hadn't been able to kill the Slayer, but that was no reason for the Slayer to be sitting on Spike's lap now.

"Hey!" Spike quickly turned in the chair. Instinctively he used his body to protect Buffy from any bit of flying debris. He snarled, jumped to his feet and started to advance on Harmony. "You do NOT want to push your luck now, Harmony."

Harmony stood straight up with her arms at her side. She had not missed the fact that Spike seemed fiercely protective of the Slayer all of a sudden. That fact, along with coming up on the two of them kissing, was royally ticking her off. "You didn't answer the damn question, Spike. Why the hell are you kissing the Slayer?"

"Umm ..." Spike glanced down at a ruffled Buffy who sat askew in the armchair since he'd jumped up so quickly. He searched for an answer that wouldn't get him staked by either of the women in the room. "I'm not kissing her right now, am I?" He laughed. "I was until we were rudely interrupted though." He knew that the statement would piss off Harmony, but he couldn't help it slipping from his lips. He loved Buffy, and this sad excuse for a Vampiress was not going to get in the way of that.

Buffy tired hard not to laugh. She bit her bottom lip in an attempt to keep the corners of her mouth from curling into a smile. 'Poor Spike. He's trying not to be mean, even to Harmony.' She pondered just how much Spike had changed from the first day she met him in the alley behind the Bronze. He was still all sass and attitude, but he did have a caring side. Did he always have it, and she just didn't notice it before?

"Whataver!" Harmony shouted. "I'm sick of this back and forth, Spike. Kill the Slayer. Don't kill the Slayer." She snarled. "You can't make up your stupid mind about anything. I want an answer."

Spike looked nervously at both women. Buffy's expression seemed a bit hidden. He thought he saw the mirth in her eyes, but he couldn't be sure. Was she embarrassed at being caught by Harmony? Was she pissed that Harmony was still there?

"See! He won't even answer me. Can't even make his mind up about that!" Harmony slapped her hands down to her sides and then kicked the sarcophagus. "Ow! Ow!" She started hopping around on one foot.

Buffy had to laugh then. "Seriously Harmony, could you be any more of an idiot?" She laughed harder, holding her sides.

"You are a sorry excuse for a Vampire, Spike, and you know what?" Harmony's voice was loud, but the whimper of pain from her lips killed the angry effect.

"What?" Spike tried to humor Harmony. She may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but Harmony was still a Vampire. He didn't want Buffy to have to kill her. Being a fool wasn't an excuse to dust someone.

"No! You don't get to talk to me anymore." Harmony ordered. Spike arched an eyebrow as she continued her tirade. "We are so over, Spike. You don't get to be my little Blondie Bear anymore!" She stopped hopping now that the pain in her foot had eased off somewhat.

Upon hearing the name Blondie Bear, Buffy laughed even harder. She practically rolled off the chair onto the floor. "Oh my gosh!" She gasped for breath. "Blondie Bear?"

"Love?" Spike glanced from Buffy to Harmony. He'd heard about women scorned, and he didn't want to see just what Harmony's twisted blonde mind would try to do. He saw Harmony's human face make way for her game face.

Buffy looked up at Harmony's game face. She just laughed harder. "Even as a Vampiress she still doesn't scare me. What is she going to do to me?" She giggled, but she started to calm down some. "She can't hurt me. Not even close."

Harmony sniffled. She hated all of this. Nothing had been the same since she'd been turned. At first it seemed like a party. She could steal anything she wanted, and she was strong. She thought her Blondie Bear was the best man ever until she'd lived with him for a while. Now she was being subjected to even more ridicule from the Slayer than she ever would have had to tolerate back in high school. Men weren't supposed to like that freak more than her. She was the popular one, not Buffy.

Spike watched as the anger bubbled deeper in Harmony's mind. For a moment he swore that he saw a trace of tears in her eyes. He must have been mistaken as the look was gone at a second glance.

"As I was saying," Harmony huffed indignantly, "I'm leaving." She headed towards the door. She stopped a hair's breath away from opening it to let the sun inside. "Um ... Yeah ... I'll leave through the tunnel entrance after I get my stuff."

Buffy jumped up and grabbed Harmony's arm as Harmony passed her. "Stay away from Spike, Harmony. I mean it." She knew that the blonde wasn't a threat to her, but she was feeling overly possessive. No one was going to touch Spike again if she had anything to say about it.

"As if I wanted to waste myself getting dusted over that idiot." Harmony scoffed. "He isn't worth it." She tore her arm away from Buffy and headed downstairs to pack.

Spike stepped behind Buffy. He wrapped his arms around her waist, nestling his lips into her neck. He doubted that they could regain the mood that was going before Harmony's interruption. He wasn't about to let it kill all of their time together. "You okay, pet?"

Buffy closed her eyes and purred. How could such a rough and harsh being be so soft against her? A giggle of laughter coursed through her and into his body. "Blondie Bear? Oh my gosh! That's too much."

"Ha, ha." Spike snarled. 'If she keeps that laughing up, I swear I will cum right here from the vibrations of her body against mine.' He tried to get himself to calm down before he spoke. "Very funny, Slayer. I did not have anything to do with that nickname. That's the bint's twisted mind at work."

Buffy smiled. She turned around in Spike's arm. Raising a hand to his cheek, she cupped it and drew his face down to her lips for a kiss. "Don't worry. I'll never call you that. I couldn't do it and keep a straight face."

"Good." Spike rolled his eyes before he kissed Buffy deeply. He wrapped his arms around her tighter. Her warm body felt like an inferno against his chilled torso. He didn't care if her heat dusted him. She was worth anything in the world that he would have to endure to be near her.

Buffy broke the kiss when the need for air overcame her need to be kissing him. "You really are good at that."

"And don't you forget it." Spike beamed in manly pride. "It is so good to hear you laugh you know. You don't get to laugh often, luv."

"My life isn't usually up there with the happy tinglies of laughter." Buffy rested her face against Spike's chest. Angel and Riley had both been so much taller than her. Their beefy bodies always seemed to smother her in their embraces. She didn't feel that way with Spike. He was still taller than her, and his body was taunt and muscular, but she felt like she belonged in his arms. His body seemed to mold to hers, and it wasn't a power struggle to see who could hug tighter. They knew just how much pressure to give each other.

"I'll have to make sure that changes, pet." Spike stroked his fingers through Buffy's hair. "I'll do whatever I can to make you happy, Buffy."

"I know you will." Buffy stepped back to stare at Spike. He'd actually called her Buffy. The tenderness and caring that she read in his eyes warmed her heart. It gave her courage to know that she was doing the right thing. No matter what her friends said, Spike cared. There could be no denying that look in his eyes as anything else. "I should get going. Mom's thing starts at 6 o'clock. The sun should be down enough by then."

"I can get to the hospital via the tunnels." Spike squeezed Buffy's hand. He walked her over to the door. "It won't take me too long, and I'll leave now."

Buffy picked up the bag of things that she'd brought for her mother. She placed her hand on the door. "Okay, that's great." She kissed him once more softly. "Dawn and I really do want you there. I know my mom will be happy too."

"Joyce is a nice bird. I've always cared for her." Spike smiled. He thought back to the many conversations that they'd shared through the years over a nice cup of hot chocolate. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than at your side through this."

"Thanks, Spike." Buffy started to open the door, but she turned back to face Spike. "Spike, Giles is going to be there. Promise me that you won't fight with him? He is likely to be a bit edgy about you being there."

"I'll do my best, pet." Spike tried to reassure Buffy. He wouldn't start anything, but he knew he was going to have to bite his tongue around Giles. He would support his girls, but Giles had better not push him too far. "I won't start anything if he doesn't provoke me. What are you going to tell him as to why I'm there?"

"I wasn't thinking that far ahead yet, but let me tell the gang about us, okay?" Buffy sighed.

Spike nodded. He didn't like the sound of it. He wanted to believe that she wouldn't hide their new relationship from her friends, but he didn't want to hide how he felt about her. He'd already been trying to hold back his emotions from Buffy before the last couple days. Now that he knew she wanted a relationship with him, he wanted to shout it from the rooftops. "I won't be a dirty little secret, Slayer."

Buffy stiffened. The edge in Spike's voice was far too noticeable to miss. "You aren't, Spike." She squeezed his hand in assurance. "I'm not going to hide it, but you know how some of them will be. I can't handle all that conflict along with everything with my Mom."

"All right." Spike sighed. He pushed her towards the door and stepped out of the way of any stray rays of sunlight. "Go on then. I'll see you at the hospital."

Buffy waved as the door closed. She darted off in the direction of the hospital. Nothing would be right about her mom having to have surgery, but she knew that she could handle it all much better with Spike by her side. 'Now what am I going to tell the gang? They are so not going to believe me.'

Riley watched Buffy run out of Spike's crypt. He frowned. "I should have known that she'd run right to the bleached wonder." He muttered, turned around and headed back his place. "He is going to regret that he ever touched what is mine." He sneered. Much planning needed to be done.

Riley picked up the phone and called a number that he swore he'd never talk to again. "Hello. I'd like to get a message to Agent Graham." He paused as the person on the other end denied knowing anything about someone like that. "Whatever. Tell him that Finn needs his help in solving an old problem. Tell him that I need help with 17." He hung up before the person on the other side of the line could deny what he knew was true.

"Let him enjoy his moment. It won't last long." Riley sneered, waiting for the return phone call. "I know just how to make your dreams come true, Spike. Too bad it will mean that Buffy is going to have to dust you." He grinned. "Maybe if she has to dust another vampire "lover" she'll get it through her head that she needs a real man."

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