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1. The Choice To Stay by Spikelover4ever for CheekyKitten

   Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)  

   • Explicit
   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • F/M
   • Work in Progress

   14 Apr 2025

   Tags

   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • Spike/Buffy Summers
   • Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg
   • Xander Harris/Anya Jenkins
   • Buffy Summers
   • Buffy the Vampire Slayer Ensemble
   • Spike (BtVS)
   • Willow Rosenberg
   • Tara Maclay
   • Xander Harris
   • Rupert Giles
   • Dawn Summers
   • Angel (BtVS)
   • Faith Lehane
   • Quentin Travers
   • Lydia Chalmers
   • Domesticity
   • Friendship
   • being the caregiver of a teen
   • Growing Up
   • A New Normal
   • working through prejudice and beliefs about vampires and the soul
   • Buffy given the choice this time to come back
   • Buffy seeing Spike for who he really is rather than his persona
   • the PTB not screwing Buffy over for once
   • Smut
   • Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) Season 6
   • Between Seasons/Series
   • Fluff and Angst
   • Domestic
   • Developing Friendships
   • Grief
   • Resurrection
   • Angst
   • Angst with a Happy Ending
   • Found Family
   • Kind of a slow burn at first
   • Smutty
   • Romance
   • Fluffyfest
   • Domestic Fluff
   • Fluff
   • did i mention there's sex
   • If you're looking for Buffy to be a bitch in this one you've come to the wrong fic
   • Spike and Buffy actually have a healthy and sweet relationship
   • Porn with Feelings
   • Blood Drinking
   • Violence
   • Stabbing
   • BAMF Buffy Summers
   • Sexual Content
   • Explicit Sexual Content
   • HEA

   Summary

   After Buffy’s death, Spike steps up—protecting Dawn, holding the Scoobies together, and proving his worth despite his lack of a soul and every reason to walk away. Nearly a year later, Willow secretly petitions the Powers That Be to bring Buffy back. They agree—but only if it’s Buffy’s choice.

   Returned to the earthly realm, Buffy finds a world where Spike has become an integral part of the life she left behind. But she carries a secret no one knows: she has seven days to decide whether to stay or return to the peace of heaven. If she leaves, no one will remember she was ever back.

   Will she reclaim the life she fought for—or the afterlife she earned? Read on to find out…

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   136,038

   Chapters:

   34/?

   Comments:

   282

   Kudos:

   296

   Bookmarks:

   77

   Hits:

   10,864