Buffy had trouble understanding her feelings. It used to be a lot simpler, when she was younger, but they went through so much in the past few years. They changed so much. Not just her, or Spike, or the two of them together, but everyone else too. The chance of having a simple answer like I love you or I hate you was gone. She truly and sincerely loved Spike right then. All of the bad stuff was stripped away and she saw him for who he was, and nothing else mattered. She did love him. It was more complicated now, but it was true. Buffy didn't fall in and out of love frequently. Or ever.
"So none of this 'me being alive means the noble sacrifice didn't happen.' Pretty sure me coming back from the dead didn't change why I fought and died in the first place. Both times." Buffy smiled and met his eyes a little shyly. She was a tough woman and she put up a strong front, but he'd managed to get past it now, to see more than the Slayer. Oh hell fine. She tried to fight it, and it was pointless, since she went by her gut. Buffy put her arms around him, and pulled him into a hug. "I thought you were dead. You were dead."