The way Spike had to realize he needed a soul was brutal along with the way Buffy treated Spike. He made mistakes too but she had a soul & doesn't have that excuse.
I think that Buffy even realized this & is part of why she forgave him.
It's no wonder Joss encouraged fans to write fanfic.
He always took the most painful route for all couples.
We got Spuffy growing closer late Season 5 & early season 6 but it was almost like this was ignored after they kissed b/c Buffy goes back to treating him the way she did before all that which I think is understandable to a point. Spike was getting too close & she wanted to push him away.
I think the growing connection was written on purpose to keep fans invested in Spuffy being together when they did turn dark.
I know that's part of why I still shipped them.
I'm really pissed though at how Spike & Dawn's friendship was trashed all b/c some fans were shipping them.
That didn't even stop a lot of Spawn shippers b/c they still kept shipping them.
