Dawn yawned, stretched, and put down the copy of Le Morte D'Arthur she was reading for class. Enough for one night, she thought. At a noise from the basement door, she looked up to see Spike, still pale and drawn only one day after his rescue, leaning against the door frame for a moment before he pulled himself into the kitchen. He met her eyes, nodded and greeted her. "Evening, 'Bit. Don't suppose you could point me to a hot shower? First wasn't big on hygiene."
"Well, the counter's about 3 layers deep in make up and hair spray, but the shower...."
"In the master bedroom would be better, Dawnie," Buffy said, stepping into the kitchen. "I'm sure all the girly stuff in the big bathroom would just make Spike uncomfortable." Dawn looked from her sister's impassive face to Spike’s blue eyes that seemed to dim, and wondered what was going on.
"Slayer, I...," Spike began, stepping forward towards her. He tottered unsteadily for a moment, then almost fell, ending up on one knee and both hands on the floor. Buffy stepped forward, extending an arm to help him up. Spike took her hand, and looked up, his eyes meeting hers for the first time that night, and Dawn could almost see something pass between them.
Spike brought Buffy’s hand up, and bent to press it to his forehead, before again looking Buffy in the eye and saying, "Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you."
As they stood there, Dawn's gaze flicked down to her book, and the drawing there of Lancelot declaring his devotion to Guinivere. Their pose was identical to that the Slayer and the Vampire now held.
Buffy smiled, and her expression softened. She grasped his arm with both her hands and drew him to a standing position, then said, "Thank you. Come on, let's get you that shower."
She put his arm around her shoulder, and her arm around his waist as he leaned into her, and she helped him up the stairs. Dawn watched them go, thinking to herself that something important had happened.
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