Finally, the second of the CDs that Giles had put together ended and was replaced by a third, and this one didn't have The Ramones announcing that they wanted the airwaves, or anyone heading 'Into the Valley' or a bemusingly hyper interpretation of the childhood classic, 'Nellie the Elephant'. It wasn't thumping guitar riffs that prompted Spike to hold out a hand in invitation, it was a few piercing notes from what sounded like penny whistles, but Buffy wasn't about to complain.

Even as the roughened voice began to sing its lines of lyrical poetry, she slipped into Spike's arms, her hands sliding around his neck. Her body swayed easily against his, as attuned in the ebb and flow of the music as they were in the other dance they performed together almost every night. A strong but gentle hand at the small of her back guided her closer still and she rested her head against the side of Spike's neck.

Unexpectedly, Spike's molasses voice, pitched in an intimate whisper that was obviously only meant for her, joined the one coming from the CD player. His breath caressed her ears as the words tightened her heart. Some lines made no sense at all except possibly to the person who wrote them, others seemed to have been written with the two of them expressly in mind.

"Still there's a light I hold before me," Spike breathed the last few words in her ear. "You're the measure of my dreams. The measure of my dreams."

Buffy was glad that the whistles and violins continued on for almost a full minute after the vocal track ended, allowing her to blink away the tears that threatened to overwhelm her in front of almost everyone she counted as family. Uncaring who was watching them, she lifted her head and, loosening her hold around his neck, her fingers twined instead into the shorn curls at his nape and guided his lips to meet her own.

By the time Buffy became aware of her sister applauding them with a huge grin on her face, The Eagles were well into 'The Last Resort'.

Buffy's gaze automatically went to her mom, but instead of the censure and embarrassment she expected given their public display, her mom just gave an amused shake of her head and a reassuring smile before she took Brian's hand, leading him toward the clear area they were using as a dancefloor. If she was anything other than delighted that her eldest daughter had finally joined the unsouled vampire's fan club, then none of it showed. "And to think that's the girl who ran away covering her ears when I tried to tell her about our first date," Joyce remarked, ostensibly to Brian but loud enough for those nearby to hear, the wicked gleam in her eye matching her tone. "Maybe we should show them how it's meant to be done?"

Buffy couldn't help the feeling of panic that engulfed her but, fortunately, her mom just laughed, taking her own public display of affection only so far as to rest her head on Brian's shoulder as they danced. Buffy swatted at Spike's rather nice dark blue shirt sleeve. "Are you sure you didn't wish us up an 'evil mom'?" she asked.

Spike grinned and pulled his slayer closer again. "No more evil than she was before... unless you think I've been corrupting her."

"If you've been corrupting my mom, then all bets are off, mister."

"'Kay," the vampire agreed amiably, brushing his lips against her temple. "It's your mom who's been corrupting me."

Buffy couldn't even be bothered to feign disapproval. It was just too comfortable where she was, strong arms, a shoulder that was just the right height to lean on and music designed for swaying in place.

Behind Spike's back Willow grinned her approval, the tip of her tongue just poking between her teeth, and Tara added her own half-teasing smile.

Song followed song, from Tom Petty's Free Falling with its 'vampires walkin' through the valley' to Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird before Giles tapped on the vampire's shoulder. "May I?" the watcher asked as the track faded out.

Spike stepped back. "Figure if Anya has no objection, I've got no reason to complain... And if I recognise Billy Idol, then I'd better take that as my cue to find the only 'Sweet Sixteen' in the room." Somehow, he seemed to melt away into the shadows rather than simply walk to the other side of the room and Buffy found herself alone with her mentor.

Xander excepted, she was less sure of Giles than of anyone, and it was with a certain degree of nervousness that she met his eyes. "You don't approve, do you?" she asked.

Giles gave a melancholy smile that only just reached his eyes. "I don't disapprove," he conceded. "I'm not entirely sure that I would ever approve of anyone... but I would be a liar and a hypocrite if I said that I haven't noticed the change in him. I know I hardly asked for anyone's opinion when Anya and I began seeing each other, but it still meant a lot to me when you all... well, perhaps not quite all, but when you and the other girls were so supportive."

"That's it?" Buffy asked. "No lecture? No dire warnings?"

Giles gave a snort of laughter. "Would it do any good?"

"It might make you feel better."

"No, Buffy. According to Anya and her charming friend, who I believe might be ever so slightly jealous, this isn't something you've fallen into on the spur of the moment, and, if you've thought it through and he's your choice, then all I can do is wish you both every happiness... and m-maybe ask that you loosen your g-rip slightly," he added, gasping for breath due to the rather over-enthusiastic hug his slayer bestowed on him.

 

---

 

It was some time after that before she found herself back in Spike's arms. He danced at least a couple of songs with Dawn before taking turns with her mom, Tara and Anya, while she partnered Brian, Clem and Giles again, but when the watcher made it known that there was just one more song left on the CDs he had prepared, there was only one person she wanted to share it with, not to mention the fact that Anya seemed to be of the opinion that Giles wasn't allowed to dance to that particular track with anyone but her.

She didn't fool herself that when Xander got back that he would make things easy, but for tonight he wasn't around, and it wasn't as if that was a battle she was going to have to fight on her own. For now, she had Spike, she had her family... all her family, thanks to him. She had some guy singing 'Bird of Paradise' and all seemed right with the world.

"So, where do we go from here?" Spike enquired in a velvet whisper.

Buffy nuzzled even closer. "I didn't really plan that far ahead," she admitted and then tilted her head back until she could meet his eyes. "I thought, this time, once I made the first move, we could work it out together."