I'm going out tonight-I'm feelin' alright
Gonna let it all hang out
Wanna make some noise-really raise my voice
Yeah, I wanna scream and shout

No inhibitions-make no conditions
Get a little outta line
I ain't gonna act politically correct
I only wanna have a good time
Shania Twain

It was her next day off when things began to change. Reality started to intrude on our little fantasy time. I was trying to sleep but Buffy kept moving around the room. Sighing loudly to indicate I wasn't happy, I flipped over onto my belly and covered my head with a pillow. She moved onto the bed and pulled the covers off of me. And before I could tell her to sod off the little bitch bit my ass.

"What the bloody hell does a man have to do to get some sleep?" I turned over and glared at her.

She just smiled and started to lace up her sneakers.

"Where you going?" She hadn't left the crypt except for work since I had gotten here.

"Shopping." She said as she stood up and lingered over me.

"For what?"

"Stuff."

I slumped back on the bed with my hands laced behind my head. She was playing some kind of game and I wasn't sure whether to be mad or not.

"And what kind of stuff are you shopping for?" I asked as I grabbed her hand.

Buffy leaned down to kiss me quickly before she pulled away. As she did I reached and grabbed her around the waist. I flipped us around until she was lying beneath me. She laughed up at me as she started to playfully push me away.

"Nosy are we? Just stuff. A surprise for later." She said it trying to keep a straight face but her smile just wouldn't leave.

I leaned over and started to nibble at her neck making her break out in giggles. Then as I started moving my hand down her stomach she grabbed it.

"Spike, stop. Later okay."

She reached a hand up to cup my head so she could kiss me again. A little slower this time but it wasn't long enough for me. Then finally pulling away she managed to roll away from me and off the bed. With a wave of her hand she was gone. Groaning I fell face first into the pillow and laid there willing sleep to come back. It must have because I woke later when Buffy jumped onto the bed. Her hands reached out to shake me by my shoulders.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. It's time to play." Her voice had this sing song thing going on.

I opened my eyes slowly. Her cheeriness and evasiveness were getting to be annoying. And I wasn't really in the mood to play. She pushed me till I was lying on my back then moved so she could straddle my middle.

"Time to play what?" My hands moved up her thighs then around to cup her ass.

"Not that, Spike. I want to go out." Buffy grabbed my hands to pull them off her butt bringing them around to rest on my stomach. Her fingers entwined with mine.

"And just where are you going?" I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Not me. Us. I want to go out dancing. Maybe play some pool."

Apparently, she wanted to go to The Bronze. I wondered if she had even been out since she had moved in here. But whom would she have gone with? She was trying to avoid her friends. And she seemed to be keeping her distance from her co-workers. Which was probably a good idea.

"Like on a date?" I decided to tease her a little. And there was a secret hope that was what she wanted.

She wrinkled her nose at my question.

"Yeah, I guess we could call it that if it will get you out of that bed and out of this place for awhile."

She slid off of me and headed toward the caretaker's house.

"I'm going to take a shower. Wanna come?"

She threw her hair around as she turned to look back at me. But I was already on my way.

Once we got to the bathroom I was helping her to peel off her clothes when I saw it. She giggled at my expression. I reached a finger out and softly traced the skin around it. The girl had gone and had her belly button pierced.

"This the surprise?" I inquired of her.

"Only part. The rest after we shower."

Sometimes it's hard to be a slave to a woman. I ended up coming out of the shower smelling like pears. She had all this fruity stuff that she insisted on bathing me with. But I lived with it because she had promised that I could lotion her down with stuff that smelled just like it. I guess it was a fair trade off.

But I should have known she wasn't done with me. Once we got back upstairs she sat me down on the bed and dried off my hair with a towel. Then she reached for my hair gel and a blow dryer. I ended up with my hair all sticking up. She even trimmed some of it off from where it was getting too long. After she decided my hair passed muster she reached for some shopping bags and handed them to me. I looked at them like they were going to bite me.

"What's that?"

"New clothes, silly. Now put them on."

I pulled them out and looked at them. They actually weren't bad looking. She had bought me black leather pants with a studded belt. To wear with it was a cobalt blue silk shirt with a mandarin collar. As I was lacing up my boots I caught her reflection in the mirror.

My mouth dropped open at the sight of her. She was wearing a pair of black leather low rise pants with a black lacy stretch crop top. There was a ruffle down the front and bell sleeves that fell over her hands. She had curled her hair and had it pulled away from her face.

I almost asked her if we could just stay home but the girl had her heart set on going out. It was good to see her genuinely smiling again. Every since she had been brought back she seemed to exist in a cloud of depression. I vowed then to show her a really good time. To see to it that she relaxed and had fun that night.

The Bronze wasn't that busy seeing it was a Sunday night. But there was a pretty good crowd enough to keep us from feeling on display. Buffy tried to haul me out to the dance floor but I refused at first. Her lip stuck out in a pout and she batted her eyes at me. What kind of guy would I be if I refused a lady? So, I took her hand and walked out there prepared to make an ass out of myself. Buffy started moving around me in abandon. I just stood there as she gyrated and shook her hair around. She turned to laugh at me then grabbed my hands pulling me close to her. Throwing one arm around my neck she started to move her groin against mine. This I could get into. I put my arm around her waist and started to lead. Buffy leaned her head against my shoulder as we moved together. All of a sudden it didn't matter to either of us that we were the only ones slow dancing. It just felt good to be holding each other and swaying to the music.

A few songs later we decided to take a break. In unison we moved toward the bar. Both us needed something to drink. At the bar she ordered herself one of those fruity drinks and I ordered a beer. But I couldn't help teasing her about her choice.

"Got yourself a manly drink there, pet." I smiled down at her as she grimaced.

"And you do? A big tall frothy glass of piss." I choked at her comment. She pounded me on the back while she laughed at my predicament. I knew that she liked beer and her teasing was just an attempt to get back at me.

Once I had cleared my throat I grabbed her hand and headed back to the bar. Soon there was lime, salt and two shots of tequila in front of us.

"Okay, Big Bad, how do I do this?" She inhaled and steeled herself for this. "Can't we just stick with whiskey? I already like that."

"No, you need to try something new. This will put some hair on your chest."

"You want hair on my chest?" She made that cute little face she does when she is trying to act surprised.

"Not really. Quit avoiding. Now, pay attention. Lick, Slam, Suck."

"Excuse me. You want me to what?"

The bartender started snickering and rolled his eyes at us.

"Get your mind out of the gutter. Now pay attention. Lick." I demonstrated by putting salt on my hand and licking it off. "Slam." The shot of tequila hit the back of my throat. "And suck." I picked up the lime and sucked its juice.

"Oh."

Buffy gave this big dramatic sigh and rolled her shoulders back. Like she was trying to talk herself into trying this. Then she put the salt on her hand and picked up the shot glass with her other.

"Lick, Slam and Suck, huh?"

"Yeah, Love, show me you've got the balls of a man."

That did it. The tequila was gone and the lime was between her teeth. As she finished the bartender started applauding her. Buffy started to blush then to cover it told him to bring another round. The next time wasn't as awkward but the third round she was doing it like a pro. And that's when I cut her off.

"No, Spike, I like. Let's have one more." She started giggling as she slammed her hand down on the bar. The whole bar shook with the force and several people started looking at us.

"Okay, that's enough for now." I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her away.

At this point she wasn't too steady on her feet and if it wasn't for my arm I think she would have been stumbling.

"Dance, Spike, Let's dance." Buffy attempted to pull away from me and head for the floor when she put her hand to her head.

"Come on let's sit for a while." I led her to one of the couches and sat down with her sprawled across my lap. She twisted so her head was under chin. Her hand reached for mine entwining her fingers with mine. We just sat there for a few minutes. Neither of us said anything.

"Spike, look." She was pointing toward the dance floor. "That girl in the purple she looks like a penguin dancing."

I followed the direction of her finger and watched the girl.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. But look at the guy she's with. Not much better."

We both started laughing. After that everybody in the place was fair game for our insults and laughter. Okay, yeah, it wasn't the nicest thing but Buffy and I were doing it together. I was feeling like a god that night with her. And everybody else was below my queen and I. So, they got laughed at.

After we ran out of victims she got real quiet. Buffy brought her head up so that she could look at me.

"I'm having fun. Actual fun with Spike. Who would have thought?"

Reaching over she gave me a long, wet passionate kiss.

"Yeah, baby who would have thought." I agreed with her when we broke for air. When we first met all we thought we wanted to do was kill each other. But time changed that and now all we seemed to want to do was be with each other and shag. Life could play funny tricks on people. It seemed that it did it just to keep them on their toes.

We ended up closing the place down. Buffy was having so much fun. It was like the old days. Back before life got her down. When they finally kicked us out we walked out of there wrapped in each other's arms. She still wasn't too steady on her feet. But it was the tiredness that comes after a good time and a few good drinks.

"I should have brought the bike." I told her as we started down the alley. We had decided to walk there tonight after we had done a quick patrol. But now I wish we had gone back to get it so she wouldn't have to walk.

"That's okay. I have a ride."

As I was wondering what she meant she slipped out of my arms. Walked around behind me she jumped up on my back. My hands went instinctively out to grab her under her knees. Her legs went around my waist and her arms around my neck.

"Ride Spike." She leaned forward and started to nuzzle the back of my neck.

"Yeah, Love, when we get home you can ride Spike all you want."

She giggled and nipped at my neck.

"Ride Spike now. Giddy up." She moved her hips up and down against me. And I groaned in response. At this rate we weren't going to make it home. And I wondered how she felt about sex in public places. I was walking down the alley keeping an eye out for places that were dark enough when he appeared.

Right there out of the shadows as only he could. I felt her stiffen behind me as she saw him. Her voice was soft and hesitant as she said his name.

"Angel."