Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy, Spike or the stars! I don't own anything!

Set: Season Six; after DMP 6.12

Authors Note: This little one shot came to me in science class when I was taking Astronomy notes after I spent all of lunch convincing my friend that Buffy and Spike are meant to be! Catherine

~ Star Gazing

Buffy Summers and Spike were walking awkwardly through one of the many cemeteries in Sunnydale, California.

To many people looking at the duo it would seem as if they were just a couple taking a shortcut through the cemetery to The Bronze for a date. In reality they were a Vampire Slayer and a chipped Vampire patrolling the cemeteries for the latest demon or some stray vampire.

The awkwardness was caused by yet another pre patrol encounter at Spike's crypt, after which Buffy decided she wanted to patrol. The slightly mused Vampire agreed.

"It's very quite tonigh'." Spike remarked as they stopped walking. He leaned against a rather large headstone and took out a pack of cigarettes and his Zippo lighter and motioned at Buffy. Buffy shrugged and leaned beside him.

"I know! I guess it's not the best night for vamp-fun or something." She said looking at Spike's profile as he smoked. "Maybe there's a convention or something."

Spike smirked slightly and they lapsed into another silence.

"Sorry, about your shirt." He said after a few minutes silence.

"No big," Buffy said, waving it off. "It's an old shirt and it was only one button. If it was new, then I'd have to-"

"Stake me good an' proper. I know." Spike said smirking.

Buffy looked up at the night sky. "It's a clear night tonight." She remarked as she continued staring at the dark blue sky laced with dark purples and blacks.

"Yeah," Spike agreed. "You can see a lot of the constellations tonigh'."

Buffy smiled slightly. "When I still lived in L.A. you really couldn't see many of the stars from the front of the house. My room was in the back and it had a balcony." Spike smirked and raised his scared eyebrow. "Anyway. My parents had just started fighting. I was thirteen and Dawn was eight. Whenever their fights would last more than a few minutes I would lock myself on the balcony and sit in this chair I had and I would just stare at the stars for what seemed like forever. I even tried to count them." Buffy smiled sadly and looked at the green grass below her feet. She looked up. "I really only know the Big Dipper."

"Ursa Major." Spike said. "It's really the main one."

"Ursa Major?" Buffy repeated. "How do you know?"

Spike smiled at her when she looked up at him. "When I was still alive, before I moved to London, I lived just out side of Birmingham, which is sort of in the middle." He added at her questioning glance. "It was the late 1860's. I was kind of an academic so I would go outside of the Manor and sit on the porch and read about each of the myths behind each constellation and try to find him."

"Aww!" Buffy laughed. "You were geeky!"

Spike shot up, "I was not a geek! I just... enjoy the finer aspects of learning."

Buffy looked at him skeptically. "Do you know any others?" She asked.

Spike looked up at the sky. "Well, do you see the last star, in the handle of Ursa... The Big Dipper?"

Buffy squinted. "Yeah...."

"If you follow that star straight across," he trailed his finger across the sky. "And that leads to the Little Dipper. Ursa Minor."

"I can't see it." Buffy stated, standing up.

Spike stood behind her and took her hand. He raised her hand and traced Ursa Minor for her. "That's Polaris." He pointed her finger at one of the stars. "The North Star." Spike paused. "Do you know the story of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor?"

"No," Buffy responded. "Can you tell me?"

"In Greek mythology it's said that Zeus fell in love with a mortal and they had a child. His wife, Hera got her knickers all in a twist, obviously, so she turned the mortal into a bear. One day their son was walking through the woods and the mum-bear couldn't stay away and Zeus felt bad so he turned the son into a bear and threw them into the sky. Hera asked Neptune to make sure that they never touched the waters.

So that's why Polaris is the only star that stays still, as it is just over the North Pole and it never touches the water." Spike explained.

"Where are there more?" She asked him.

Spike smiled against her hair. "Do you see that sort of line of stars going between the two?"

"Yeah," Buffy responded.

"That's Draco, that's Latin for the dragon or serpent."

"Which is it?"

"Serpent." Spike responded shortly.

"Do you know anymore constellations?" Buffy asked.

"I know lots of them." Spike responded.

"Can you tell me the other ones you can see?" Buffy said shyly.

"Well if you go on an angle from Polaris you can find Cassiopeia. Who is the mythological Queen of Ethiopia. It's sort of an 'M' shape." He turned them around. "See those three stars, kind of bunched together are kind of bunched together?" Buffy nodded. "That's Orion's Belt. And that really bright star by it? That's Orion's dog, Sirius." Spike sighed. "In some cultures people think that when people... die they go and live amongst the stars." Buffy narrowed her eyes in confusion and turned in his arms. "When you were gone, everyone of those hundred and forty-seven days, I would look out on the stars from your porch and hope that it was true. Just do I would know you were okay."

"Okay, you have to stop this right now." Buffy said forcibly.

Spike dropped his arms. "I'm sorry, I didn't...."

"No, it's not that." Buffy sighed as if reading his mind. "You're making me get a crush on you."

"Huh?" Spike said, shocked.

Buffy shifted from foot to foot. "You're all academic and cute. A little geeky, I'll admit...."

"I am not geeky!" Spike exclaimed.

"Just shut up for a second! I'm trying to tell you how I feel!" Buffy exclaimed. "I do have feelings for you. Not quite love, but I do have a crush on you."

Spike smiled broadly and leaned down. "I told you so." He whispered just above her lips right before he lowered his lips and closed the distance between them.

~

Thanks for reading the one-shot! Review if you would be so kind!

Look for my new Spuffy story due out in a few weeks!