I put her out in a town that was so small
You could a rock from end to end
A dirt road Main Street
She walked off in bare feet
It’s a shame I won’t be passin’ through again

They lay in each other’s arms for awhile just enjoying being together. Enjoying the feel of the other against them. His hands idly caressed her back or played with her hair. The outside world began to intrude on them as the spell around them began to ebb. Cars arriving and leaving the rest stop sounded outside the van. They could hear people talking and laughing. Children crying.

With a sigh Buffy moved to sit up hating to leave the circle of his arms.

“I have to go to the bathroom.” She explained before he had the chance to ask. He nodded in agreement having fought the urge for a while now. He sat up and they began to sort clothes out and put them on. She reached into her purse to grab her brush. Her tousled hair once again became a smooth mane. Then she reached into her overnight bad and grabbed toothpaste and her toothbrush.

Spike laughed thinking it would probably be a good idea. He grabbed his and moved to scoot toward the door. Once outside he turned to help her down from the van. They continued to hold hands as they made way toward the restrooms. They kissed quickly before disappearing to tend to their needs.

Buffy wasn’t in sight when he came out. He trotted out to the van to grab his cigarettes then made his way back up to wait for her. After he lit one he noticed a Highway Patrol car pull into a space in front of him. The officer stepped out and turned to look at his van. Spike felt himself begin to tense up as he turned from the van to him. Taking a deep drag of nicotine to calm his nerves he waited to find out what was going to happen. The officer walked toward him then stopped in front of him.

“That your van, son?” He asked him as he looked him over.

“Yes, sir. Is something wrong?” Spike told himself to be polite. To answer the questions that he was asked.

“It was parked there when I came through almost four hours ago. Anything wrong?”

“No. My girl and I stopped to rest for a while.” Spike could almost feel the blush rising in his cheeks. Not only for the lie he had told but for the remembering what they had actually been doing.

“That her?” The officer nodded somewhere over Spike’s shoulder.

Spike turned to look to see Buffy walking their way.

“Yeah.”

“Pretty little thing, isn’t she.”

The anger and jealousy hit him so hard he felt almost out of control as the guy looked at her. But he didn’t look long and turned back to Spike.
“Look, I was your age once so I’m not going to give you any trouble if the two of you leave now. Okay?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

Spike knew he sounded like a fawning dope as he answered the officer. But he didn’t want any trouble for either of them. He shook the guys hand before he walked back to his car and drove away.

“Everything okay?” Buffy came up to him and slipped an arm around his waist. Spike pulled her close as he put a kiss on the top of her head.

“Yeah. It’s fine. We just need to get out of here.”

But that had been the plan anyway. They had both known it when they had crawled out of the van that it was almost over. Their time together was dwindling down. Spike turned to pull her close to him. She returned the hug as they stood there hoping that time would freeze in this moment forever.

Eventually they got back to the van putting their things away in the back before they moved to the front. Buffy had grabbed the sheet and a pillow from the back to settle into the seat.

“You can sleep in the back if you want.” Spike told her not wanting her to be uncomfortable. But she shook her head.

“I want to be with you for as long as we can. How long until we get to Sunnydale?”

“It will probably be about two hours.” Her hand reached over to take his. “It doesn’t have to end.”

Spike kept his eye on the road as he threw his heart out to her. He held his breath as he waited for her reply. And as the silence grew longer he knew his chances were getting slimmer by the second.

“Spike, it would be impossible. We live in two different cities. We’re two different people.” The last part she said so softly as if she was speaking to herself. It was excuses. She was afraid to take a chance.

“You’re going to take him back. Aren’t you?” He turned to her angrily and the guilty look on her face gave him the answer.

“You don’t understand. We’ve been together for two years.” She tried to defend herself to him but even to her own ears it sounded weak.

“Buffy, if you don’t want to be with me it’s one thing but to go back to someone who doesn’t deserve you and who treats you like shit is stupid.”

“A few minutes ago I was special but now I’m stupid. Thanks.” She turned toward the window taking back her hand.

Spike threw his head back for a moment as the frustration flooded his body. It was her life and she had to choose. They had agreed to be friends. Independent of one another. It wasn’t his right to interfere. Except for the fact he was head over heels in love with her.

“It’s not that you’re in love with him. It’s because you think it’s what you should do. You’re afraid to stand up for what you want. For who you are. Afraid of what your friends will say.”

She laughed at his words trying to show him that he had no idea of what he was talking about. But he did. His words were so accurate that it was scary. She was afraid of what they would say. Riley was who she was supposed to be with. The perfect nice guy. Except that he hadn’t treated her in two years as well as Spike had in the past few hours. But what would everybody say if she brought somebody like him home.

“No, I’m not. Like I said you don’t understand.”

He didn’t want to hurt her. To have their last few moments together be ugly. But he was fighting for his life here.

“No, I don’t understand anything do I? You’ll go home and Riley will come home. You’ll forgive him. The two of you will go to college together then have a big June wedding after graduation. With all your friends and family there. You’ll have a couple of kids and stay home with them while he continues to cheat. But, hey, you did what you were supposed to do. And you have a memory of a night when you had a guy who would never treat you bad to fill your lonely life.”

She didn’t respond to his rant as she stared out the window. The miles began to slip away as they remained in their silence. Each lost in their own thoughts. Somewhere along the way though she reached for his hand again as he continued to hope that she would change her mind.

“I’m sorry, Spike. I never meant to hurt you.” She sighed as she turned in her seat to look at him. “Believe me when I say that.”

He glanced at her quickly to see if she was toying with him. Her eyes were wide in her face as she looked at him. She looked sad and torn. He sighed as he realized it was tearing her up inside. No matter what he did he wouldn’t change her mind. It was over.

“It was my own fault. You said you only wanted one night.” He blinked back the wetness in his eyes as he turned back to the road.

Buffy brought his hand to her lips so she could lay a kiss on it. He smiled as she rubbed it against her face. The reminder of the ride to Sunnydale was made in a comfortable silence. They were both tired, emotionally and physically after the long day. When they pulled off the exit to her hometown she began to give him directions to her house. He drove slowly as he followed her directions. Trying to draw out what little time they had left. When they turned down a road and she pointed out her house his heart began to break. He stopped the van where she indicated. She crawled in the back and got her stuff together then laid it on the front seat.

Finally she turned to him crouching down next to him. Her hands cupped his face as she made him look at her.

“I’ll never forget you or what happened. You are really special. And you showed me things that I didn’t know existed.”

Buffy rose up to kiss him goodbye. But Spike didn’t want her tender little kiss he wanted to show her how much she would be missing. As he reached around her waist he also reached down to move the seat back. Buffy ended up in his lap as he devoured her mouth pouring all the love he felt into the kiss. But it didn’t work. She pulled away from him to crawl out of the van. Turning she grabbed her suitcase and purse.

“Bye, Spike.”

Then she walked away. Up the walk to her house. He waited until she had closed the door behind her before he pulled into a neighbor’s drive to turn around. At the stop sign on the corner he stopped long enough to light a cigarette. His hands trembled as he held the lighter up. As soon as he was out of sight of her house he was going to pull over so he could bawl his eyes out. The pain in his chest was overwhelming. The burning in his eyes nearly blinded him. He slowly pulled out into the intersection and was halfway through when he heard something.

“Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike. Stop. Spike.”

He slammed on the brakes nearly causing a car to hit him but he didn’t care. He looked back in the direction he had come to see her running his way. Her feet were bare as she pounded down the middle of the road toward him. As another car honked at him he quickly drove the van to the side and stopped. As soon as he got out she was there. Flying at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Then with a small jump her legs went around his waist. To help hold her up he turned them so her back was against the side of the van.

Buffy began to kiss him all over his face as he laughed at her gestures. But until she told him exactly what she was doing he wasn’t letting his guard down again.

“What’s going on, pet?”

Then she kissed his lips. Her tongue moved into his mouth with a possessing manner. They didn’t separate until they needed to take in air. He looked up into her face as they broke apart.

“You said you were going to be in San Francisco for the summer. So, you don’t have any other plans, do you? Stay with me.”

As she saw hesitation in his eyes she continued to say anything to keep him with her. But the hesitation wasn’t about her it was about practical matters. Like a place to stay. But it was as if she was reading his mind.

“Look, I know Sunnydale is small but we can find something to do.” Her hips moved toward him when she said this making him want her again. “And my friend Xander has his own pad. If I ask he’ll let you crash for a while. Then my mom is going away with my sister next month. Then you can stay with me. We’ll figure it out as we go.”

Then she became silent for a moment. She ran a hand through his hair as she leaned forward to kiss him softly.

“I don’t know what is going to happen but I want to try. I don’t want to let you go.” She told him as a tear fell down her cheek. “Please stay.”

Spike couldn’t believe this was happening to him. This girl wanted him. She wanted him enough to go against everything she was to take a chance on him. Then he started to cry along with her.

“Yeah, I’ll stay, love.”

He knew this was where he belonged as they began to kiss again.

And as it turned out it was the best summer of his life.
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