At the beginning of Older and Far Away, Tara arrives at Buffy's birthday party and asks if Spike is coming. Buffy tells her no because he doesn't play well with others and she's not ready to come out. Not ready to. Implying that there could come a time where she was. That whole scene between them makes it feel as if it might be a possibility at a later time. As if Buffy has actually given it some thought after she broke down in front of Tara at the end of Dead Things.
Later on, during the party that never ends, she tells Spike that she thinks she was insane to ever think he could just hang out with her friends - again proving that she had in fact given it some thought.

The challenge:

What I want is a story exploring this. What if the night hadn't gone as it did? What if Spike had in fact played well with her friends? Maybe Halfrek hadn't gotten to Dawn before the party and it ended at normal party-ending time, giving Spike the chance to prove that he could indeed just hang around with her friends. Or maybe something else happened during the party that made Buffy come out. Perhaps Richard was a bit too pushy and Buffy accidentally admits that she's seeing someone and everyone starts asking questions. I don't care how you do it, I just want Buffy to somehow "come out" during that event or in the days after.

Must haves:

• Buffy coming out to her friends about her relationship with Spike during or in the aftermath of Older and Far Away
• Tara supporting her
• Spuffy HFN (or HEA)