"What in Satan's name has you so down, Slayer?" Spike asked. He was skulking a few steps behind her and to the right. "Not that I give a wit about your problems, mind you, it's just that you're bringing my sunshiny mood down."

Gritting her teeth to keep from spinning and nailing Spike in the mouth, Buffy sped up her gait, trying to put more distance between the two of them. "Can we keep the idle chit chat to a minimum, Spike? I just want to get in a few slays and go home to get a good nights sleep."

"Well, that's just bloody fine!" Spike bellowed in frustration, startling Buffy and causing her to jump. Buffy spun on him, anger radiating in the glare she shot him.

"Do you think you could yell any louder? I don't think you scared off all of the vamps yet," she hissed venomously.

Gritting his teeth, Spike curled his upper lip, looking almost as if he were trying to bare his fangs to her, though he still wore his human mask. Speaking in an exaggerated whisper, he said to her, "I was just trying to be nice." He shuddered a bit at the word he chose to use. "You just looked like you needed to talk to someone and you sure as hell can't go to the witch like you used to."

Buffy straightened her posture, her back like an iron rod. "What makes you think I cant talk to Willow?" she asked him indignantly.

Turning the corner of his lip up in a hauty smirk, Spike began circling Buffy. She turned with him, never allowing her back to be turned on him. "Because it probably wouldn’t be a smashing idea to tell her that you have the hots for her little boyfriend," he said in a mocking voice.

Buffy flinched a bit and sighed. "Why can’t I hide anything from you?" she asked in exasperation, walking away from him.

"Cuz, luv. I’m one hell of a perceptive bloke," he said merrily, falling into step with her. "So, why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?"

"Why do you care?" she asked, throwing an angry look at him.

"I don’t really. I just get so bored sometimes. I feel a bit left out, not being in on your little soap opera," he told her and shrugged.

"Whatever," she said, unable to think of a better comeback at that moment. She sped up her pace, trying to put some distance between her and the cocky vampire. As she rounded a large thicket of bushes, something caused her to stop dead in her tracks. Spike bumped into her because she had stopped so suddenly.

"What?" he growled in frustration, craning his neck to the side to see what had stopped her. When he saw Oz’s van parked at the curb by the cemetery and Oz leaning nonchalantly against it, he let out a quiet chuckle. Propping an elbow on Buffy’s shoulder, he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Well, well, well. Speak of the little devil."

Spike hunched over in pain, as the Slayer’s elbow connected with his sternum. "Cor, Slayer. What the hell was that for?" he bit out between his teeth.

"Don’t touch me," she said, and walked away from him, towards Oz. Oz didn’t notice her coming until she was only about six feet away from him. "Oz, what are you doing out here after dark. You know it’s dangerous out here," she said, stopping a good distance away from him.

"I know," Oz said simply, his eyes cast downward, avoiding her open gaze.

"Hey, Wolfy!" Oz looked up when he heard Spike’s jovial taunting. The bleach blond stood hovering over Buffy’s shoulder, a wide grin spread out across his face. "Come to play a game of ‘fetch’?"

"Up yours, Spike," Oz said in a quiet tone, his eyes flashing anger at the vamp the only thing that betrayed his calm exterior. Turning back to Buffy, Oz caught her eye with his own and held it. For a long while, no one said anything, Oz and Buffy staring solemnly at one another and Spike watching them.

Finally the silence was broken by Spike giving a fake yawn and stretching. "Cor, what time is it?" he asked and looked at his bare wrist as though there were a watch there. "Wow, that late? Well, it’s past my bedtime, ya know. Gotta go." And before either Oz or Buffy could comment, he was off, walking at a brisk pace. Buffy watched his figure disappear into the darkness before turning back to Oz apprehensively.

Biting her lips, Buffy shuffled her feet a bit. "Um," she said, and stopped there, because she really didn’t know what to say to him. Hefting out a deep sigh of frustration, Buffy snapped at him. "Why did you come here tonight?"

Shifting his eyes away from her, Oz stared off at a tree. Not really focusing on it, just trying to keep from staring at her. He shrugged, not really knowing what to tell her. "I just.....needed someone to talk to," he finally said.

Buffy softened, already cursing herself for the harsh tone she had taken with him. "What about?" she asked, taking only a few steps closer to him, stopping until she was about four feet away from him.

Oz shrugged, still avoiding eye contact with her. "I suppose I could go on about all the feelings that I’m *still* having for you. Or I could tell you how much it hurts my heart to see the way you make a bee line for the door every time I show up. *Or* I could tell you what it’s like to have to comfort Willow when she’s sad that you don’t talk to her anymore. I could say all of that, but that’s not really what I came here to talk about."

Giving into her urge to be closer to him, Buffy unrooted herself from her spot and went over to lean against the van next to him. She was careful to make sure there was still a good foot of space between them, but she was surprised at how comforting being this close to him was. She had been dodging him for so long now and combining that with the pain she still had from losing Angel, Buffy had started to feel empty. It was almost as if she were a husk of herself, walking around, slaying, doing her duties, but avoiding all of her friends except for Giles. "Tell me?" she asked, just wanting to hear his soft voice.

She heard Oz swallow hard and gave him a moment to compose himself. She knew how uncomfortable it made him to appear like he’s lost his cool. Still, she kinda wanted to see him lose his cool, to see what he was really like under all of that calm resolution.

"I just came from Willow’s house," he began, turning to face her. His shoulder was pressed against the passenger door of his van and it looked to her as though he were depending on the van to support his weight. Almost as if he didn’t trust himself to remain standing. Buffy wet her lips and nodded for him to continue, but really she was tensed, ready to catch him should he fall over.

"We were....we were lying in her bed and she was asleep with her head on my chest. I was watching her sleep, I’ve always liked watching her sleep. She had..." he paused for a moment, a small smile lighting his lips. "...the cutest little smile of contentment on her face. Then I started feeling guilty because....well, I started to wonder what it would be like to hold *you* like that. To watch *you* sleep."

Buffy looked down as the blood rushed to her face in a deep blush. A shock of heat hit her body when he said those words. Now *she* felt guilty because she had wondered the same thing.

"Then she said it. She...she said Xander’s name in her sleep. And...she squeezed me tighter and her smile got bigger. It made me feel sick and jealous and angry all at the same time," he told her. "So, I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her up, and I came here to find you."

Buffy’s jaw dropped. She shook her head to clear it up a bit, not really knowing what to say. She watched Oz’s face as it paled, his lip curled upward and it looked as if he might get sick. "She’s still in love with him," he said in a low whisper.

Buffy’s caring nature took over and she forgot about her confusing attraction to Oz for a minute as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She urged his head down to her shoulder. Oz allowed her to hold him tightly to her, remaining completely silent. It wasn’t until she felt a wet trail leak over her bare shoulder that she realized he was crying. Gently grasping his shoulders, Buffy pushed him away a bit and looked into his glossy, green eyes.

Tentatively, she brushed her hand over his forehead and around to cup his cheek. That hot feeling rushed through her body again as he stared intensely back at her. "I need you, Buffy," he said quietly, falling forward against her again and burying his face in the crook of her neck. Buffy hesitated for a moment, but slowly slid her hands up Oz’s back to hold him. The fingers of one hand tangled in his hair, stroking it soothingly. The other pressed firmly between his shoulder blades.

Buffy took in a sharp gasp, when she felt Oz’s warm lips press against her neck, just over her quick-beating pulse point. Buffy’s hand fisted, scrunching Oz’s shirt in her hand. She tensed as Oz sucked gently on her neck, scraping his teeth lightly over the skin. "Oz," she forced out.

Oz took his mouth away from her and looked up into her eyes. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of Buffy’s stomach as his lips left her heated skin. "We should stop," Buffy told him. Some how, though, he didn’t appear to be listening to her. He was just watching her intensely. Licking his lips, Oz leaned closer and placed his lips over hers, cutting off the protests that Buffy swore she was going to give.

Pushing Buffy up against the side of the van, Oz pressed himself even closer to her. Deepening the kiss, Oz snaked his tongue into her mouth. As their tongues danced slowly against each other, Buffy’s hands pressed against the back of Oz’s neck, holding him to her. Not that he was planning on going anywhere.

Even as tingles ran down her spine from Oz’s touches and kisses, Buffy’s conscience was still on overdrive. While her body was screaming for more attention, her mind was yelling that she should stop before it got too out of control. As if he sensed her thoughts, Oz pulled away, his eyes still closed, sucking his lips in. Letting her hands fall from his neck to his chest, Buffy sighed and urged him to back away from her.

"I want to tell her, Buffy. Do you?" he asked. Buffy bit her lower lip and nodded.

"But don’t you still love her? What if she breaks up with you and hates *me* forever? What if she doesn’t understand?" Buffy ran on. She stopped when she noticed that Oz was shaking his head solemnly.

"If Willow and I ever had a chance together, it was over the moment she and Xander shared that first kiss. She’ll never stop loving him. It’s over between her and I, even if nothing happens between you and me," he explained. He quieted for a moment, looking thoughtful. "You know while she and I were split up, I called you."

"You did?" she asked with surprise.

"Yeah, I needed someone to talk to. You weren’t there. Your mom answered the phone but I didn’t leave a message or my name." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Do you want me to give you a ride home?"

Buffy thought about it for a moment before shaking her head ‘no’. "I’m just going to walk. I have some thinking to do."

"Can I call you tomorrow? We have some things I think we should talk about."

"Yeah," she told him. He ran his hand down her arm, sending a small shiver through her, before turning to round his van. She watched as he got in and drove off, regret etched in her features. Her life was getting even more confusing. Turning, Buffy walked in the other direction towards home and a restless sleep.

The End

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