"You alright there, luv?" an accented voice asked from behind her. Buffy turned to find a man on a barstool there, head tilted to one side as he observed her. He had the deepest blue eyes she'd ever seen and the brightest blond hair too.

"I'm fine" she nodded a little warily, stirring her Martini around in the glass with the cocktail stick that had an olive on it at some point.

"S'alright, pet, I'm not some weirdo who's gonna jump on you any second" the stranger smirked as she shifted away from him, "You just looked a bit, well, lost I s'pose"

Buffy smiled at his apparent interest in her, sighing at the same time and wondering when she'd became so cynical that she automatically assumed a guy that spoke to her in a club like this was some kind of attacker.

"I'm not lost" she assured him, deciding she might as well sit down on the stool beside him, "See that bunch of shiny happy people over there" she pointed and he nodded when he spotted those she spoke of, "That's where I'm supposed to be. It's an engagement party for my two of mybest friends" she said absently as she watched Willow and Xander laughing with the other couples. All those couples, and her on her own. She'd just had to get away.

"Tell me then, luv" the stranger asked her, "If your best mates are over there, what exactly are you doing all alone over here?"

"I'm not alone" she smiled as she turned back to look at him, "I'm with you"

He smirked at that, turning it into a smile when she held out a hand to him.

"I'm Buffy, by the way" she told him as he took hold of her hand in his.

"Spike" he gave as his own handle as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

"Your Mom and Dad named you Spike?" she laughed to cover the fact he'd embarrassed her a little.

"No" he agreed, "You tellin' be your parents named you Buffy?" he asked in kind, with a raised eyebrow as he sipped his bourbon.

"Yes, actually" the blonde replied, going even more red than she had done previously, "I sometimes wonder about their sense of humour" she rolled her eyes and Spike bit his lip so as not to laugh.

"Well then, Buffy" he said her name with some emphasis as he tried to puzzle out where her parents had ever found such a thing, "How about I buy you another drink, seein' as we're such good friends now"

"Yeah, okay" she nodded, "Thanks" she said, settling herself on the stool and deciding she'd be happy to stay and talk for a while. It wasn't as if she was doing anything wrong, just talking and having a drink with this nice, seemingly decent, drop dead gorgeous guy. As she glanced back at her friends she noticed they'd not even missed her yet, such was the world.

"So, you're not from around here, right?" she asked her new friend as their drinks arrived on the bar and he paid for them.

"What gave me away?" he smirked and she laughed lightly.

"Well, let's skip past the fact that nobody from Sunnydale has that accent" she told him with a look, "and come straight to the point that if I'd seen you before I would've remembered" she grinned, downing half her drink in one go.

"I'm from England" Spike explained, "Just north of London actually. Came here for my Summer vacation"

"Alone?" Buffy checked, finding it a little strange that such a hottie as this didn't have at least one girlfriend if not several.

"Yeah, alone" he confirmed staring into his glass, "Was supposed to be coming here with my girlfriend, but..."

"Bad break-up?" Buffy guessed with a pained expression, regretting asking now.

"Is there a good kind?" he asked, taking a gulp of his drink, "Truth is I found her in bed with someone else"

"Ouch" was Buffy's response. She couldn't imagine how much that must hurt, to walk in and find the one person you loved with all your heart in the arms of another.

"Yeah, well, don't s'pose I can really blame her" Spike sighed, finishing his drink much faster than he'd intended to and immediately ordering another for both himself and Buffy. Talking about Dru made him want to drink on until he couldn't think anymore, didn't care like he did when he was sober.

"What possible good reason could she have for cheating on you with some other guy?" Buffy asked with a look. She was a strong person, never allowing herself to become a victim, well, she tried not to anyway. She hated to see others suffer, be weak and allow themselves to get stepped on by those they loved or hated, it didn't matter either way.

"See that's the point though, innit?" he said, picking up his next drink and studying the brown liquid as it sloshed against the sides of it's container, "Didn't catch her at it with another fella" he admitted, "Found her in our bed, getting her happys with another bird"

Buffy's eyes were wide as the Grand Canyon, though Spike wasn't looking at her to know it. That really was the absolute last thing she'd been expecting him to say.

"She was... oh" she said, frowning hard, then biting her lip as laughter wanted to force it's way out of her body. Here she sat, her life not exactly on the up and up, and still she'd managed to find the one other person in the whole of the Bronze with bigger and more unsolvable problems than her.

"Are you laughing at me?" Spike asked her with a tilt of his head as Buffy tried to hide her giggles in her hand. It didn't work too well, though she shook her head in answer to his question.

"You bloody are!" he accused and he seemed so serious about it, Buffy felt awful but she couldn't help busting up laughing. It was just so ridiculous. There was a woman out there who had Spike for a boyfriend, this gorgeous and apparently genuinely nice guy and she was gay. How incredibly unfair was that?

"I'm so sorry" Buffy attempted to apologise around her terrible fit of giggles, "I just... it's so ridiculously insane"

Spike couldn't help himself as he joined in laughing with her.

"S'pose it does sound bloody funny from the outside" he admitted, knowing that if he were alone thinking about his situation he'd be crying like a baby, especially after the amount of drinks he'd had. Somehow Buffy's presence made it more bearable, better than just bearable, even amusing to him.

When the pair of them had substantially calmed down, Buffy took her turn and bought the next round of drinks. Neither seemed at all bothered by how much they were drinking, life was too complicated to want to remember all it's intricacies right now. Better to drink and talk and laugh and let all the badness drift away for a few hours, they decided. It wasn't as if anyone was going to miss them going home tonight.

"So, how about you, pet?" Spike asked Buffy.

"How about me, what?" she checked, not understanding what he meant.

"Your latest flame planning on going gay too?" he smirked and she giggled once again.

"Doubtful" she told him, with a shake of her head, "Very doubtful. He likes women way too much for that... just not me so much" she added sadly as she finished off another drink. Spike looked thoughtfully at her. How was it possible that such a woman could not be desirable to any straight bloke with a pulse? His silent thinking made Buffy uncomfortable after a while and she told him so too.

"Do you have to look at me like that?" she said, glancing away from his intense gaze and going slightly pink.

"Sorry, pet" Spike told her, finding her embarrassment so endearing, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I'm just trying to figure out... I don't understand how any man could ever not want you" he told her perfectly seriously and Buffy looked up at him with such wonder and surprise, as if no-one had ever told her she was attractive.

"I think you're drunk" she said, shifting awkwardly in her seat.

"Maybe" he agreed, putting his fingers under her chin and turning her head back so she was facing him, "but that doesn't change the fact that you are a very attractive woman" he told her, looking right into her eyes and making her listen, "I was sober enough when you came over here and I knew it then. Fella'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to notice" he said solemnly, not realising that the entire time they had been drifting closer and closer together.

Buffy swallowed hard and her heart thumped wildly in her chest, as Spike leaned in a little further and put his lips to hers. If she didn't know better, she would've sworn it was the fourth of July and somebody was letting off fireworks all around her as he kissed her all but breathless. Her arms slid up around his neck as his wrapped around her waist, lifting her from the stool and pulling her towards him. She was practically on his lap as the kiss deepened and he protested a little when she tried to pull away.

"Spike" she gasped, trying to breathe as she rested her forehead against his, "What're we doing?"

"Well, where I come from, it's called snogging, luv" he told her, wasting no time in giving her another demonstration which she let happen for a moment before pulling away again and this time right out of his arms.

"This isn't a good idea" she told him, sitting back down on her stool and looking off to the side, "I mean, you know this is insane, right?" she checked, wondering if it was just her being weird again or whether this really was kind of inappropriate. She'd only met this guy a couple of hours ago and suddenly they were lip-locking like it was going out of style, there had to be something wrong with this picture.

"Yeah" he sighed, turning on his seat and finishing another drink, "S'pose it is sort of daft to be messing around..." he trailed off, finding it terribly difficult to have a sensible and rational thought right now, without getting lost somewhere in the middle. Some of that he guessed was the alcohol's doing, but he'd been fine just a few minutes ago, right up until he'd kissed Buffy. God but she was beautiful he thought as he glanced over at her, playing with an umbrella from someone's abandoned cocktail. He'd met some girls in his time, slept with several, even fancied himself in love with a couple but there was just something about this one, about Buffy, that he couldn't wrap his head around. Never had simply kissing a girl got him as excited as he was when he had her in his arms just now.

Buffy herself refused to move her eyes away from the bar or the paper umbrella between her fingers. If she looked at Spike she'd want to get back over there and kiss him again, feel his lips on her own, and his hands burning her skin even through her clothes. Nobody ever made her feel that good, not ever, and all they'd really done was kiss. That was a fact that both scared Buffy and thrilled her at the same time, in a way she couldn't begin to describe and didn't want to try.

"Er, I should probably go" she realised, even though somewhere inside her a voice was screaming what an idiot she was to walk away from a man like this, a man that could make her shiver inside with just a look and who's kiss sent her soaring through the clouds. Okay, so he could be anybody, she didn't know him properly or anything but she'd like to know him better, intimately being the perfect word for just how well.

"Do you have to go?" Spike asked her, reaching out a hand to her arm as she got up, "We were doin' alright before, talking and stuff" he reminded her.

"I know" she nodded, eyes flitting between his own and the point on her arm where his fingers lay, and finding it ridiculously difficult to get out a sentence, "but this isn't... it's not... It's too hot in here" she said, pulling her arm from his grip and stepping away, "I have to get out"

With that she practically ran for the exit and despite the fact he was a little bit drunk, Spike managed to move fast enough to follow her, probably aided by the fact she'd had her fill of alcoholic beverages tonight too.

They arrived outside the door of the club and Buffy took in great lungfuls of fresh air, hoping to make herself cooler and calmer. It didn't help as much as it should, since Spike was right by her side again, giving her that intense look that made her melt inside.

"You're bleeding" he frowned, reaching out to take her hand carefully in his own.

"I tripped at the door" she said absently, "Put my hand out to stop myself falling... I guess there was something sharp or..." her head swam from a mixture of alcohol, the sight of her own blood, and the gentle way this guy was cradling her hand so carefully in his own.

"I'm staying at the hotel just around the corner" he told her, "If you want I could clean this up for you, maybe make us a coffee too" he suggested.

Buffy opened her mouth to say thanks but no, when his eyes came up to meet hers again. Before she knew it she'd agreed to his proposition, and they were walking together, him asking her if she had a clean handkerchief or similar that she could press onto her cut until they got to his room. She managed to find some tissue from her purse and did as he told her, absently wondering if he was a doctor or something, but then it hardly took a real medic to know how to stem the flow of blood from a small scrape like this.

They were silent as they went into the building and travelled up three floors via the elevator. They shared a couple of glances but Buffy mostly kept her eyes on the floor, knowing if their eyes met for too long their lips would soon follow and things might get out of hand. Speaking of hands, she was fairly certain her own had stopped bleeding now but for some reason she didn't tell Spike, and followed him from the elevator to his door and then inside his room.

"Sit down" he told her, gesturing vaguely to the bed, and despite her better judgement, Buffy perched on the edge of it, seeing as there was no chair or anything as an alternative. Spike disappeared into the en suite bathroom and returned a moment later with some antiseptic and so forth. It still should've hurt, Buffy realised, as he cleaned up her almost non-existent wound, but it didn't. She felt nothing but electric-type sensations as his fingers caressed the skin of her hand.

"There" he said a moment later as he pressed a sticky plaster over the cut, "All fixed up" he smiled, kissing her hand as he had when they first met just hours ago.

"Thankyou" Buffy breathed, absently wondering why he was still holding her hand, and how they seemed to be leaning in closer to each other despite the fact she was unaware she was actually moving.

"You're welcome, luv" he replied, eyes flickering between her own hazel pools and her lips as she licked them absently.

"I should go" she said, glancing towards the door and back, "but maybe we could do this again sometime?"

"No can do, pet" he told her, intense gaze never wavering, "Going back home tomorrow"

Buffy couldn't bear it, couldn't bear to think she was about to walk out on this wonderful man and she would never see him again. She wasn't so naive she believed in love at first sight, that was for silly school girls and their daydreams. Still, she was only twenty-five, she told herself, despite the fact she felt so much older most days. She looked down to avoid his eyes but his hand reached out to push her hair away from her face, fingers lingering at her cheek.

"You are so beautiful" he told her, meaning it as honestly as he'd ever meant anything. When he leaned in to kiss her, Buffy lost all capacity for any kind of rational thought. Fireworks, just like before, electricity, fire, explosions, all those feelings she'd only ever read about in books were happening to her now as Spike kissed her til she couldn't breathe, and still she didn't want him to stop.

He leaned her back onto the bed, pressed her body into the mattress with the weight of his own as he kissed a path from her lips down her throat and back.

"Oh God" Buffy gasped, a small part of her telling her she was idiot and asking what the hell she thought she was doing, but the whole point was that she wasn't thinking anymore, only feeling. It was like molten lava ran through her veins as Spike's hands pulled her top from her skirt and found the bare skin in between, his lips coming back to hers and taking her breath away all over again.

He wanted her, she could feel how much he really did and that in itself thrilled her beyond words. Nobody had ever wanted her this much, and she doubted they ever would again. She didn't just want him, she needed him, needed what he was doing to her, wished it'd go on forever.

Clothes slowly slipped away, as they moved together, lips and hands discovering each others bodies in beautiful detail as he began to make love to her, real romance novel love, movies love, pure and passionate love, despite the fact those three little words were never spoken and the couple were not even that, just a pair of almost perfect strangers.

What would happen next was anybody's guess, and right in that moment neither Spike nor Buffy cared. They were connected on so many levels as he moved inside her, looking deep into her eyes as he did so. In his gaze she saw passion, pure want for her alone, and as long as she lived she'd never forget that look, the feeling that went with it, and the passionate emotions it seemed only this man could evoke inside her.